It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello
by KaylsDaughterofHades
Summary: Annabeth regretted cheating on Percy and breaking her best friend's heart. It had been five years since Annabeth ran back to California, and now she is back in New York with Percy on her mind. She calls and leaves a message in hopes of seeing him before she leaves back home. Will he come and see her before she goes or just leave the past in the past?(Currently On Indefinite Hiatus)
1. Hello

_Hey guys, this is a new one shot I came up with recently, as in like a few hours ago when I watched a new music video (_ _ **Hello by Adele**_ _) and I instantly got inspired by the words so I hope you enjoy this. I really wrote it very very very quickly cause it just flowed out of me. Enjoy._

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It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

Five years.

It had been almost five years since Annabeth Chase watched her best friend and boyfriend break down because of her words, because of a stupid choice and mistake she made that left him devastated and the guilt hit her the moment she left their apartment and went back to California.

For exactly one thousand, eight hundred and twenty five days, she was wracked with unimaginable guilt. If you asked her how many times she called him it was that number, doubled (cause sometimes she called just to hear his voice of his answering machine), minus one. But not for long.

" _Hello, this is Percy Jackson, I can't take your call right now so leave a message after the beep."_

Annabeth gripped her phone tightly and waited for the beep to pass. "Hello, it's me." Annabeth whispered hoarsely, her voice already cracking as she ran her hand through her tresses of liquid gold, her deep stormy grey eyes glassed over from the impending tears that were bound to fall. "I know you probably the last person you want to hear leaving another message but Percy, I really am sorry."

The memory of their world falling at their feet already replaying as a tear fell from her eye.

* * *

 _Annabeth in all honesty was nervous about tonight, but not for the reason you'd expect. Four months ago, Annabeth did a very bad thing, she started dating a man by the name of Luke Castellan, but the thing was, she was cheating on her boy friend of seven years and best friend of eleven years._

 _But the thing was, in those four months with Luke, she became confused about her feelings for Percy because she had developed strong feelings for Luke and the truth is, she and Percy had been drifting apart, their relationship was falling apart and Luke was everything she wanted._

 _As she walked into her and Percy's apartment, she noticed the sheer silence in the apartment, the only thing she could hear was the pitter patter of the rain against the windows. She quielt closed the door and tiptoed into the apartment but froze in her tracks when she Percy leaning against the kitchen counter in his seat, with a wet tear track running down the side of his face from the corner of his eye._

 _His unruly midnight black hair dishevelled, the sleeves of long sleeved shirt were rolled up exposing his arms. Annabeth froze when she saw the empty crystal glass and a half empty bottle of whiskey. "How long Annabeth?" He whispered as he poured himself another half glass of whiskey and downed it in a flash._

 _Annabeth didn't answer as she looked at Percy in disbelief as he stood up and looked at Annabeth who gasped when she saw his red eyes rimmed with tears, his sea green pupils that were usually filled with love, happiness and enthusiasm were dull and empty, Annabeth barely recognised his eyes._

" _You heard me Annabeth, please just answer the question. Don't make me ask it again." Percy pleaded; his voice barely audible as he looked at her with tear filled eyes._

" _Four months." Annabeth answered, her strong resolve breaking as her eyes mirrored Percy's as they filled with tears. Percy whimpered when she answered and it broke her heart when the tears fell from his eyes like a rapid falling waterfall. His lip trembled so violently that Annabeth thought if it touched the ground it would cause a massive earthquake. "How did you find out?"_

" _I visited your office today cause I wanted to take you out for lunch cause I hadn't seen you at all and your assistant said you were out for lunch with your boyfriend, Luke Castellan, just like you had done the day before." Percy looked like someone had kicked his puppy, his shoulder's shaking, he looked nothing of the man Annabeth grew up and knew._

" _Percy..."_

" _Do you love me Annabeth?" Percy asked, his eyes meeting hers for the first time._

" _Of course I do." Annabeth defended herself but Percy didn't even blink._

" _Do you love him?" Annabeth was taken back by that question. She hadn't actually thought about it like that before. It took her six and a half years to fall in love with Percy (it had taken him no time at all. He had been in love with her since before they got together) and with Luke, she didn't know how she felt about him._

" _I... I don't know..." Annabeth stuttered guiltily. She knew exactly what she had done. She had betrayed a man she loved with every ounce of her being and hurt her best friend. "I don't know how I feel about him but I know I feel something strong with him Percy."_

" _Who do you want to be with?" Percy asked, his voice void of emotion as he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the confusion in Annabeth's eyes._

 _For the first time in her life, Annabeth didn't know something. Usually she knew everything but for the first time in her life she didn't know and only when the words left her mouth did she regret her answer. "I don't know."_

" _I see." Percy spoke calmly, finally opening his eyes, looking absolutely defeated as he started digging his hands in his pocket and pulling something out of his pocket and placing it on the kitchen counter and turning back to Annabeth, taking his keys out the bowl they always put it in and walked out the door, not even looking back as he opened and slammed the door shut._

 _Annabeth knew Percy needed time as she walked forward and looked at the thing Percy left on the table and gasped when she saw a ring box sitting on the table. The tears poured rapidly as she shakily picked up the box and her worst fear came to life._

 _A diamond ring sat in the warm cushioning embrace of the grey velvet box, simple and elegant, and the exact one she was looking at the other day with Thalia Grace who was basically her sister and Percy's cousin. A little note fell out the top of the box and Annabeth picked up the note and carefully unfolded it._

 _Her hands shot up and covered her mouth, trying to muffle the broken sob that escaped her lips as she stared down at the note._

 _ **Marry me?  
~PJ~**_

 _Annabeth rushed to the window and stared down at the parking lot where Percy stood, the door of his blue Prius open, the rain pouring down on him, he didn't move. His back was facing her, his hand raised to his ear and the apartment phone started to ring so Annabeth reached out and picked up the phone and answered it, still staring out the window._

" _Percy..." Annabeth whispered as Percy turned round and looked up at her._

" _I am sorry I wasn't enough for you." Percy said in a broken tone as his eyes met hers before her ended the call and climbed in his car, and drove off and out of her life..._

* * *

Annabeth was full out crying as she recalled that day, she should have gone after him, not run back to California, she should have fought for him cause that very night, Luke broke up with her and since then, she felt as though she had lost everything, so that is why she left, basically running with her tail between her legs.

She breathed in as she dried her eyes.

"Sorry Percy, I just, I don't know... I... I just wanted to hear your voice cause not a day has gone by where I don't think about how I hurt you and I am just so sorry Percy." Annabeth sobbed, the emotions really getting to her now. "I just wanted to tell you that I am in New York for a few days and I would love to see you. I know you probably still hate me because of what I did, I hate myself too. I am going to be at the cafe where we first met, noon I hope to see you before I go back to California, my flight leaves on Friday, I hope you can come."

Annabeth sighed, running her hands through her hair and up and down her face, her eyes red from the tears and throat feeling it had been a cat's personal scratch pole.

"I really am sorry Percy. I know I made a mistake, and you will never know how sorry I am. I really hope I can see you before I go." Annabeth sighed as she ended the call, hoping to god that maybe this time she would be able to see him again.

The week had come and gone so quickly, and now it was already Annabeth's last day in New York and she hadn't seen Percy, she was starting to lose hope that he would come, she knew that she had hurt him badly and she would never forgive herself. She still had his ring, she wore it on her favourite necklace that Percy had given her, and she couldn't help but stare down at the ring a sad smile coming onto her face.

She let it fall back against her chest as she checked her watch, it was almost two o'clock, her flight to California was in a few hours and she still had to go and pack up her things from her hotel. "Can I get you anything mam?" A waitress with blonde hair in a mullet style cut, chewing some gum between her teeth.

"I'm good thank you, could I just get the bill for my coffee so I can be on my way." Annabeth asked calmly as she tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, before picking up her cappuccino and taking another sip, taking her time with this cup to stall for time, she still hoped and prayed that he would come.

Annabeth looked down at her phone, noticing the time and sighed _. Percy wasn't going to come, why would he, especially after what I did to him,_ Annabeth thought guiltily as she placed some money on top of the receipt, making sure that there was a tip for the waitress, she was so distracted with putting her things away she missed the ring of the bell, indicating a new customer had arrived.

Annabeth stood up from her seat and pushed the chair back under the table as she shouldered her purse and turned to leave the cafe when she collided with a body, arms wrapping their way around her, preventing her from falling to the floor in an embarrassing heap.

Annabeth looked up and instantly her eyes widened as she stared into the sea green eyes she had know for years, they held that familiar warm and enthusiasm she remembered from before that night, and how the unruly mop that rested upon the man's head cradled his face so perfectly.

The lop sided smile that had left her heart numb with love, plastered on his face as he held her to him, staring down at her with the love she remembered him looking at her with.

"Hello." Percy Jackson spoke, his tone of voice so familiar, it was filled with so much love, happiness and excitement. Annabeth's second chance had began and it had begun again with a simple 'Hello.'

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 _well guys, I hope you enjoyed that, now you have a choice, to continue or not to continue, that is the question. This could turn into a short multi-fic if you guys want, otherwise I will jsut be posting sequel one-shots, you choice. Hope you enjoyed it, don't forget to review everyone. For now it remains open, after two weeks I will make my choice. Let me know guys. Love you all._


	2. Back to December

_Hey everyone one, I am sorry I took so long with this, it took me a long time to decide to choose what to do and when I finally decided to continue it, I had to search for the right songs to inspire me so this is inspired by 'Back to December' and 'Last Kiss' and 'Breathe' by Taylor Swift cause the songs interpret the chapters story but it's more of 'Back to December." So enjoy._

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It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

Annabeth didn't know how long Annabeth had stayed in that moment with Percy, his arms still around her like they belonged, holding her in a warm tender embrace that keep her upright. She didn't know what to say so she just stared in disbelief up at the man she hadn't seen in five years.

 _He's here, he's really here,_ a repetitive phrase that ran through her mind as she looked at the face that she had grown up watching mature and grow more handsome. His jaw seemed relaxed but still powerful and strong like before, his cheek bones were a little more defined, and if it were possible, his face had grown even more handsome. Like seriously, he could give Narcissus run for his money when it came to his looks. Girls would be swooning over Percy.

The only thing that hadn't changed were his eyes. They still had the sparkle she remembered, the vibrant swirling emotions in his green eyes reminded her of the clashing waves of the sea battling against each other and yet they still were calm and warm as they gazed down at her. His small lop sided smile captivated her heart like it always did as Percy leaned back and pulled her straight so she was balanced on her feet, but his arms lingered.

"P-Percy, you're here?" Annabeth stuttered, her throat closing up on her as she looked up into his eyes. He smiled and nodded as his arms finally left her waist.

"Yeah, I figured I would catch you before you left. I didn't want you to think of me as rude and heartless if I didn't come." He whispered softly, his bottom lip between his teeth as his hand rubbed the back of his neck. "I hope I am not too late cause if you have to go to your plan I had best be on my way."

"No!" Annabeth answered with wide eyes, her voice making Percy jump a little. "Sorry, umm, I really want to see you and I really don't have to be back home for about another week so I can stay." Annabeth answered calmly, taking in deep breaths with Percy watching her with a curious eye but nodded. "Please, take a seat." Annabeth said in a soft voice, her hand indicating to the chair that was in front of the seat she was previous sitting.

Percy smiled and nodded as he pulled out her chair for her and Annabeth smiled and sat down as Percy pulled out the other chair and sat down. The waitress came by and handed them drink menus before she smiled a bright smile, and winked at Percy, her brown eyes twinkling mischievously as Annabeth growled discreetly, the girl catching on and walked off.

Annabeth breathed in deeply as she looked at Percy who was rubbing the back of his head, the awkward tension bubble around them growing as they sat there in silence so Annabeth stilled her nerves and spoke, "I am so glad you made time to see me but I really wouldn't have blamed you if you didn't come after what happened." Her voice was quiet as she looked down guiltily at the table, playing with her fingers.

"You know me. I ain't like Nico so I cant really hold a grudge, and I guess I just thought it might be nice to see you." Annabeth instantly noticed how emotionless his voice as he shrugged his shoulders, his muscles slightly clenched and his elbows rested on the edge of the table, his right hand shaped in a fist with his left wrapped around it. He hadn't looked up at her since he sat down. She knew that his guard was up and she couldn't blame him.

"How's Life? Tell me how's your family? I haven't seen them for a while?" Annabeth inquired curiously in an attempt to kill the awkward tension. If there is one thing she knew Percy loved to talk about, it was his mother.

"Good, I have just been very busy is all? My mom is doing well, constantly asking if I have heard anything from you cause she kind of misses you a lot." Percy answered shortly, playing with his hands as he spoke but as he spoke, he didn't really seem like he was there. "So does Tyson. He's grown quite a lot, he still occasionally asks about you but not anymore really."

Annabeth really loved Percy's brother Tyson, or Ty Ty as she called him. He was only four when she left but from a baby onwards, he loved Annabeth very much. She missed Percy's family a lot, they were her second family, and she absolutely loved Sally and Tyson but she was so stupid with her mistake of cheating on Percy that she believed that his family would hate her and want nothing to do with her because of her idiocy.

"I am sorry about that, I know it must have been hard on you after what happened." Annabeth whispered guiltily, her gaze looking down at the table but they were high enough to see the muscles in Percy's arm tighten.

"Are you going to tell me the real reason why you decided now after five years it was time to see me after you practically broke me?" Percy gritted through his teeth, his hand forming a tight fist, Annabeth hung her head lower at the anger and hurt in Percy's voice. She knew that she was the root cause of this mess but she did not like how he treated her like it was her fault she waited for five years.

"I get I hurt you Percy but it's not my fault it took you five years to finally come and see me or have any form of communication with me." She bit back as she raised her eyes and met Percy's harder steel glare that made her insides quake but he held her strong composed gaze. "I called everyday and tried to constantly talk to you but you wouldn't have it. You wouldn't even let me explain myself or even let me fight for you because every single day for the last five years I sit on the floor in my house and night, wearing your shirt you gave because there wasn't a day I didn't miss you."

Percy laughed, he laughed, like he was mocking her, he didn't believe her.

"Please. I dare you to elaborate because I am certain that if you gave a damn about me since you were out with Luke on Christmas fucking eve." He spat getting up out of his seat and slamming his hands flat against the table and glared at Annabeth who got right up, anger fuelling her. "If you gave a damn you wouldn't have had lunch and dinner with him when I was at home, waiting for you. Fuck I quit my job that day because my boss wanted me to work that night but I wanted to spend it with you."

"I didn't go out for dinner with him. I went for a drink with him to tell him how fucking wrong what we were doing was. Yeah I was confused about my feelings for him, but I loved you. You didn't even give me a chance to tell you the truth." Annabeth spat back, tears gathering in her eyes. "Every fucking night I sit on the floor, I think about how you liked to show off and then I'd roll my eyes and you pulled me and made me dance even if I sucked at it. Or how you always kissed me in the middle of my rants just to shut me up." Annabeth smiled as she met Percy's gaze which was guarded. "There wasn't a day when I hated the rude interruption because I loved you, I still do."

"What's the point in remembering when none of that meant anything to you. If what we had meant anything to you, then you wouldn't have said yes to him." Percy growled, his voice so unfamiliar it shocked Annabeth to her core. "I never thought we'd ever have a last kiss because I thought that we would be forever because I always believed that you loved me and yet you found it necessary to cheat on me just because we didn't see that much of each other. I wanted you but you left like the coward you are"

"I get it Percy. It's my fault. It will always be my fault and I may be a coward but so are you. You say you wanted me but you forget you are the one who left without even fighting for us." Annabeth yelled, everyone in the cafe watching them with cautious expressions. "You said you loved me so why did you go? You left first, you didn't want me anymore so I ran because I was unwanted by anyone, not Luke, not you, not by anyone, so why did you leave me Percy if I meant so much to you cause to god I wish you had stayed? You tell me you loved me but why did you?"

"I WENT BACK TO THE APARTMENT AND YOU WERE GONE ANNABETH!" Percy yelled at the top of his voice, Annabeth's heart breaking. He came back. He had come back for her. "I came back and you were gone. I loved you and I only ever wanted you. There was no one else because I wanted you to be it for me. I go back to December all the time. I sit up at night, wide away cause I can never sleep because all I want to do is go back and stop myself from leaving so that you wouldn't have left me." Percy whispered softly as he turned his head to the side, his hand running through his hair, gripping it.

Annabeth just stood there frozen as she looked at Percy who fell back into his seat and hunched over, his hands pulling at his hair. "Percy-"

Percy interrupted her, "When your birthday passed, I never called. I knew where you were and I never called and you called me almost two thousand times or something crazy and I didn't call back once." His voice was filled with guilt, was he blaming himself. "I still think about all the summers we went to Montauk and how I liked watching you laughing when you were seated next to me in the passenger seat or how peaceful you were when you sat reading your book in the passenger side with your glasses on and I used to think how beautiful you were. I always thought of how lucky I was to have someone who was so perfect."

"Percy I am far from perfect." Annabeth whispered softly as she sat down, Percy still sitting hunched over.

"You were to me Annabeth." Percy whispered as he looked up and met her eyes. His were rimmed with tears, the sparkle was no longer there, they were filled with a swirling tornado of sorrow and regret. "I constantly feared that you wouldn't leave me. Even after you said you loved me I was scared you would leave me and when I found about Luke, I thought that my fears were coming real. That you had found someone better than me."

"Percy-"

"This is me saying I am sorry I left because I wanted to leave before you left me, because I wouldn't have been able to handle that and I realized I was so stupid and I came back and you were gone and it was all my fault." In all her life, Annabeth had never seen Percy look so guilty. "I lost you, and I was always afraid that you wouldn't want me so I never called back."

"I missed everything about you Percy. Your sweet smile, the way you held me in your arms that September night. When I lost my mom it broke me and you were there. It was the first time you had seen my cry and you just loved me and held me." this time Percy looked up and met her tear filled eyes. "This is me saying I am sorry for cheating on you Percy. I was just so afraid of being alone I sought comfort elsewhere cause I couldn't have you and I made a huge mistake and I am sorry." Annabeth reached into her shirt and pulled out the necklace that hung around her neck and held the ring between her fingers.

Percy's eyes widened when he saw the ring. The last time he saw it was the day he walked into Annabeth's office to take her out for lunch, he had looked at it when he was sitting in his car, working up the nerve to go in and find Annabeth. "You kept it after all of this time. I thought I had lost it."

"I kept as a reminder of how much you loved me and a reminder of what I had lost." She whispered as she took it off from around her neck and held it in her hands. "Maybe this is wishful thinking, or some stupid day dreaming-" she stopped herself, _no need to make this awkward_ , "- I just want you to know that if I could I'd go back in time and change what happened, I wish I could change it every day because I still love you Percy and I wish ever day you were still mine." _So you just went out and said it, great job Chase._

Percy was silent and so was Annabeth. The silence surrounding them left an awkward tension but it was mainly Annabeth's outrageous declaration but it wasn't outrageous cause she meant it. She loved him, and every day for the last five years, she had hoped, prayed, pleaded and begged that he would just pick up the phone and say hey.

"Would it be weird if I still wanted that even after all of this time and after what happened?" Percy whispered as his eyes met Annabeth's. Annabeth remembered how they used to lock gazes like this, green on gray, Percy reaching out and wiping away the tear that ran from the corner of her eye with his thumb before his hand lingered and his knuckles brushed her cheek softly.

"No it wouldn't be at all." Annabeth answered as his warm and soft knuckles brushed her cheek, instantly making her breath hitch, she hadn't felt anything like that in years. The familiarity of his skin against hers left chills down her spine as she leaned in a little.

"I want to be with you Annabeth, but I want to start afresh, as friends. Is that alright with you?" Percy asked in an uncertain tone as Annabeth reached up and intertwined her fingers with Percy's.

"As long as I can fix things between us and be with you again, then that's all I need. I just want you Percy, if you will still have me." Annabeth whispered softly as squeezed his hand and he smiled and squeezed her hand back.

"Would asking you to move me back in the apartment be too forward? I haven't moved and that place is pretty without you cause I really missed seeing your work on your sketches and watching movies with you." Annabeth smiled.

"I would be happy to come back home." She whispered with a soft smile and Percy grinned. This is the start of the beginning of the second chance and Annabeth was going to make sure she didn't screw it up again. She was going to love him and cherish him and fight for him.

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 _Hello everyone, so as you can probably guess, this is the second chapter. Like seriously guys, 39 reviews, I love you all and I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I hope I built it and layered it right cause I have plans for this, hope you all enjoy it and see you all again soon. Don't know when, I will see. Hope you enjoy it. See you soon._


	3. I'm Coming Home

_Hey guys, thanks for all the awesome reviews, you guys like totally rock. Seriously, two chapters in and we have so many reviews. Thanks for the awesome response to my story. This chapter is based off of I'm Coming Home – Skylar Grey. Hope you enjoy everyone. Hope you all had a merry Christmas, I had wanted to post this chapter up on Christmas but due to illness (tonsillitis leaving me voiceless and sore) and injuring my left shoulder (leaving me only one hand to type with ) I couldn't meet that deadline. Hope you like this chapter._

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It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

Annabeth had come back to California and got right back to work. She had submitted her request for a station transfer back to New York using the New York project she had been working on as the reason for the wanted transfer...

That was three weeks ago.

She was still in California, still waiting for the office to approve the transfer but the one thing she hated doing was waiting. She had expected it to take some time but not three weeks.

At least she and Percy spoke, but it was only short conversations, the casual _"How are you doing?",_ _"What are you up too?"_ , and even the _"How's your family doing?"_ and Annabeth could definitely sense Percy's hesitance as they spoke, not that she could blame him, things were still very sensitive since they only recently started speaking to each other.

Percy was tip toeing around the situation and Annabeth couldn't hold it against him. she had ruined him by breaking his heart into a million pieces, she saw the defeat in his eyes when she said she didn't know how she felt about him, when she said she didn't know who she wanted to be with, she had betrayed him and basically stabbed him in the back.

She could never correct this wrong, the guilt and pain of her actions would forever haunt her, especially after Percy told her that he had come back to find her gone. She would forever truly call herself a coward, instead of waiting and hoping he would come back but instead, she doubted him, his love for her, and ran with her tail between her legs because she doubted the incredible man she had in her life.

She was a coward, a chicken, whatever you want to call her but in truth, she knew she was one.

Annabeth had this tendency to always hold things against people but right now, it had been reversed, she blamed herself for everything because she was to blame. She hadn't even really started to care when the rain started pouring, soaking into her blonde locks and leaving it a messy mop that clung to her face as she sat on a park bench, completely unprotected from the downpour.

Her thoughts always occupied her like this, especially when it came to Percy. When they first met, he was always on her mind, the first time they met had to be one of her favourite things to remember whenever she thought about it and it just so happened to be in the rain.

* * *

 _Annabeth hadn't really been very bright today, and usually she was smarter than this. First day of her new high school since she and her mother moved to New York and she was put into Goode High School, age sixteen with an IQ higher than Einstein and Newtown combined. And so she decides that it was better to walk home from school and currently right now, its pouring down on her by the bucket loads._

 _"Gods of Olympus, why did it have to rain today of all days," Annabeth growled in an annoyed tone as she reached up and fixed her thin framed rectangular glasses back onto their original place on the bridge of her nose as she hugged her backpack to her chest as she walked down the side walk towards her home._

 _Annabeth really hated the rain, sure she loved water but she hated it when it rained. Sometimes her luck amazed her, she really hated the fates because they obviously loved making her life a living hell._

 _Annabeth could already feel the cold water pressing into her skin as her clothes soaked in every drop of water that fell on her, feeling her body shivering, all she could do was hug her bag closer to her chest in hopes her chest and backpack could stay dry unlike the rest of her._

 _Her old sneakers sloshed every time she stepped on the pavement, she didn't run cause she didn't want to risk falling and injuring herself. She picked a real great day to wear jeans as she could feel them getting uncomfortable and her white t-shirt was sopping wet, her black bra underneath showing through it._

 _Only lucky thing she could say was, "Thank the gods I like wearing my hair in a ponytail." Its true, but she should have tied it tighter but she prefers loose things. As she walked, a silver Prius drove past, hitting a gigantic puddle of murky, filthy water and it sprayed all over Annabeth._

 _"Hey buddy, where did you learn to drive? This ain't NASCAR racing idiot!" Annabeth shouted as she arrived in front of the car which had stopped and the driver window opened and Annabeth froze in her spot._

 _The driver that splashed her just had to be her English teacher, Mr. Blofis but the rifraf and jocks and punks all called him Mr. Blowfish. She had only seen him once but she recognised him instantly. In truth, Mr. Blofis looked relatively young, he looked to be thirty-somthing with neat longish salt and pepper black hair and a face kinda made him look like a television actor, so in laymen terms, he was relatively good looking. "Mr. Blofis," Annabeth stuttered nervously._

 _"Annabeth, right?" The male teacher asked in a calm yet hesitant tone, as if he were unsure of whether or not he got Annabeth's name right._

 _"Yes sir, Mr. Blowfish, I mean Mr. Blofis sir." Annabeth stuttered as she lowered her gaze, hoping she didn't in anyway offend her teacher after the comment she made about his driving. "Sorry, I didn't realise it was you behind the wheel."_

 _"Firstly, Annabeth, get in before you freeze to death." He said calmly as the back door opened and Annabeth looked hesitantly at the back seat. "It's alright, I am not going to kidnap you and take you out into the country to my secret bunker." He said with a laugh, causing Annabeth to smie weakly. "You don't have to worry about wetting or ruining the seats, just get in before you catch a cold."_

 _Annabeth did as she was told and climbed in, closing the door behind her and when she turned her head, she noticed that she wasn't alone in the back of the Prius. There was a teenage boy her age, with messy and unruly midnight locks that stuck to his face, indicating that it was wet, his rich green eyes, a green like any shade she had ever seen, were trained on the screen of his phone, his head bobbing to a beat that travelled through his ear phoned that were in his ears._

 _She noticed the familiarity of this boy, Annabeth believed she saw him in her Greek and Roman AP History class, he was seated in the chair next to her. She recognised the expertly carved and sculpted cheek bones that were strong and powerful and yet they were tension free and she certainly remembered the girls pointing and gossiping about him behind her, saying he was way more handsome that Narcissus._

 _Annabeth couldn't have agreed more with that statement, especially on how perfectly kissable his lips were, Annabeth internally groaned and looked towards Mr. Blofis who was smiling deviously. He reached out and pulled the earphones out of the teen's ears and he automatically raised his head to glare at Mr. Blofis but he never did as he turned his head and stared at Annabeth, raising an eyebrow as he stared at her with a confused expression._

 _"Who are you and what are you doing in my step father's car?" He demanded in a rude tone that had Annabeth scowling as she glared at him. "Like seriously Paul, what thing did you invite into the car?"_

 _Annabeth never was one to control her temper and she instantly lashed out and slapped him hard on his cheek. "Why don't you cut the rude bad boy 'tude and bite your tongue." She growled in annoyance as she sat back in the seat with her arms crossed, "Unlike you, your step father is very nice and let me climb into his vehicle after he sprayed me with disgusting water off the street so please just cut the crap because right now, I just want to go home."_

 _The guy had the decency to look guilty as he leaned back into the seat and looked down at his lap, putting his phone away in his pocket and played with his fingers. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." He said softly as he stared at the back seat of the passenger's seat._

 _"For the record, I am not a thing, my name is Annabeth jerk." Annabeth said calmly as she looked at her reflection in the window as she leaned her head against the window, her breath fogging up the glass._

 _"Nice to meet you Annabeth. I'm Percy," The boy said in a soft and hopeful tone as he looked up, meeting Annabeth's gaze as she looked into the mirror, and looked at him before she sighed and turned round and looked at him and suddenly his eyes widened. "Hey, you are that really smart chick in Mr. Brunner's class, you sat next me right?"_

 _Annabeth smiled, "Yeah Snail Brain, I'm the really smart chick in Mr. Brunner's class." She said with a head shake, but Percy was pouting at her, he seemed to be deep in thought. "You okay Percy?"_

 _"Seaweed!" He shouted with glee as Annabeth stared at him with a confused expression._

 _"What?"_

 _"Seaweed. Snail brain doesn't suit me cause I don't like snails but I like seaweed because I love the ocean and once when I went swimming, I got seaweed on my head and my cousin called me Kelp Head." Percy explained with a cute lop sided smile as Annabeth burst out laughing at the clever nickname._

 _"I like it, Seaweed Brain. Suits you." He grinned like a five year old as Annabeth smiled with him._

 _"And I will call you Wise Girl, cause you are so smart and you're a girl!" He said in a cute and adorable tone that had Annabeth giggling and shaking her head._

 _"Seaweed Brain." She whispered under her breath as Percy grinned, noticing Annabeth shivering he pulled off his hoodie and wrapped it around Annabeth's shoulders. "What's this?"_

 _"Really Wise Girl?" Percy said in an incredulous tone as he shook his head. "It's a hoodie and you are cold so I am lending you my hoodie so you can be warm and not cold." Annabeth blushed and hugged the hoodie._

 _"You didn't have to do that, it's going to get wet cause i am soaked from head to toe." Annabeth said as she hugged her chest, Percy having taken her back and putting it on the other side of him as he reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she instantly felt the warmth radiating off of him._

 _"Its alright, I don't mind. Besides, cant have my Wise girl getting a cold now." Annabeth smiled and bit her lip and leaned into Percy's side. "So, need a ride home Wise Girl?"_

* * *

Percy and Paul ahd given her a ride home without argument and Annabeth was very surprised when she got up the next morning and found that Percy was waiting outside her house for her to walk her to the bus.

The day she had met Percy Jackson was one of the greatest days of her life.

It was the formation of the Wise Girl and the Seaweed Brain. From that day on, they had been best friends since, they were like two peas in a pod, complimenting the other, teaching each other weird, exciting wonderful things.

Annabeth smiled, Percy had really fascinated her from day one, the carefree crazy, goofy, playful teenage boy had really left an impression on her brain that she never forgot. Annabeth was thankful she wasn't wearing heels cause she had slipped countless times as she walked along the pathway to her apartment complex.

Within ten minutes of musing and mulling over Percy, she arrived at the apartment building and finally was sheltered from the rain. She sighed and headed straight to the elevator and climbed in next to Mrs. Edna Greene, a neighbour she had come to know who constantly gave Annabeth relationship advice over the four years she lived there.

Her grey hair was done up in a neat bun on top of her head and her dried apple doll face made her look so cute and adorable as she carried a paper bag of groceries from the local Walmart. "Hello deary, how are you doing today?" She cooed in her sweet old lady voice that reminded Annabeth of her grandmother.

"Not so good Edna, I got soaking wet, and on top of that, my work still hasn't approved of my work transfer." Annabeth huffed as she leaned against the wall of the elevator, "Its like fate doesn't want me to go back to New York where he is." Edna Greene knew all about Percy and the current situation.

"Deary, you have to be patient, things take time for a reason, its how fate works. Trust me deary, you chose your own path, and if you wanna go, then eventually, you will go back." Annabeth smiled at the old lady as the elevator arrived on Edna floor and she stepped out the elevator, "Have a good night Annabeth and get out of those clothes before you catch a cold."

Annabeth smiled as the doors closed and Annabeth headed to her floor and as the doors opened, her phone buzzed inside her hand bag. She reached inside and pulled her phone out and saw she had a text from her boss.

* * *

 **Hey Annabeth**

 **Your transfer has been approved. Sorry it took so long, Nina forgot to give me the file so I rushed it for you today. You can come in tomorrow and pick up your paperwork and ticket. Your flight is in three days and if you need to organise accommodation, I would be more than happy to help you with that.**

 **AJ~**

* * *

Annabeth smiled and shook her head as she walked into her apartment, heading straight to the bedroom and changed out of her wet clothes, hanging them out to dry over her bath tub. She had a quick hot shower and when she was finished, she got changed into a baggy blue shirt, one of Percy's and put on a pair of short pajama shorts and sat on the couch with a blanket over her legs and a cup of hot chocolate.

With her remote in hand, she switched on Once Upon A Time on Netflix and watched happily when she heard her phone ring. She picked it up off the couch and smiled when she saw the Caller ID and answered. "Hey Percy." She said in an overly cheery voice.

 _"Someone is very excited about something. What's up Annabeth?"_ Percy asked in a curious, yet concerned tone, causing Annabeth to smile. He was such a worry wart in her opinion, but that is one of the things she loved about him.

"Nothing much. I just received a text from my boss about my transfer." Annabeth said softly as she heard Percy's breathing quicken slightly.

 _"Well, did you get it or not?"_ He asked in a hopeful yet saddened tone, as if he was confusing his emotions.

"I'm coming home Percy. I'm coming home." She whispered through the line as her smile grew, she could almost hear Percy's smile. She was really doing this, she was really coming home.

* * *

 _well guys, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to drop a review. I will see you guys all again soon and I hope to have the next chapter up again soon, love you all, see you all again soon_


	4. Leaving on a Jet Plane

_Hello everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful start to your New Year. Mine has been rough but that hasn't stopped me from updating. Dude, a hundred reviews for three chapters, that's like insane dudes. Thank you everyone. I hope you are as excited about this chapter cause I am. Hope you all enjoy it. This is chapter is inspired by Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver, which totally follows the plot of this chapter. Sorry I took so long, things have been really hectic but I am alright now, hope you guys enjoy this chapter._

* * *

It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

"Well all of my bags are packed and I am just about to get ready to go, daddy." Annabeth spoke into her phone. She was currently on the phone with her father and sadly he wasn't available to help her load or pack her things into the cab the early hours of this fine morning because he was attending a conference in Washington D.C today.

" _Make sure you travel safely my dear daughter."_ Frederick Chase said as Annabeth heard the rustling of papers through the phone line indicating that he must be assembling his speech for the conference. The loud honking of the taxi she had called to take her to the airport indicated that she had to get moving.

"I got to run, daddy. The taxi's waiting and he's started blowing his horn so I have to go." Annabeth said as she grabbed her handbag, checking and making sure that she had her passport, ticket and everything else she needed as she shouldered her grey laptop bag and her small suitcase for the flight and sighed as she bid her father a farewell as she ended the call and put her phone away.

She took a moment as she looked at her now empty apartment and sighed. It was a lovely apartment, perfect for her but she only had one place she belonged and that was back in her apartment, with Percy.

She sighed as she closed the door and locked it, removing the key from its place hold in the door before she walked away to the elevator and to her surprise, Edna was waiting inside with a familiar little fellow who was frowning sadly.

"Annabeth, why you leaving?" the little boy said in a sad tone.

His name was Peter Johnson, he was Edna's great-grandson. He had Edna's rich complex blue eyes that were filled with pure innocence and curiosity but today they were filled with sadness and he was lacking his usual toothy grin that showed one of his teeth missing which just made him look even cuter. Instead of the smile, he had a pouty lip and a sad dullness in his eyes.

His thumbs were hooked behind the bag straps of his satchel as he looked up at Annabeth with a saddened gaze as she smiled sadly and ran her hand through his scruffy raven black hair that reminded her of Percy and said, "I'm leaving on a jet plane and I don't know when I'll be back." She said softly as she squatted in front of the little boy, she was thankful she was wearing jeans and t-shirt.

"But why can't you stay." He said with a sniffle at the end as Annabeth wrapped her arms around the boy.

"I hate to go Peter but I have something I need to do away from here and I don't know how long it will take me but I promise I will phone you everyday and I will come and visit you." She said softly as she pulled back, cupping his face in her hands as she wiped away his tears. "You be a brave little boy for me, okay."

He nodded as he looked up at Annabeth, "I'll miss you so much Annabeth."

"So will I, Peter, so will I."

The elevator came to a halt and Annabeth stood up and smiled at Edna as they embraced, and as the three exited through the doors and Annabeth handed off her apartment to Edna before she climbed into her cab and said goodbye to the place that had been her safe haven for a long time.

She sighed as she settled into the seat of her cab and pulled her phone out of her bag and slide her finger across the screen, effectively unlocking it and scrolling through her photos to entertain herself and stumbled across a photo of her and Percy and his little brother, Tyson on his fourth birthday which was just before the break-up.

Tyson looked absolutely adorable in this photo with his giant toothy grin, one of his bunny teeth missing with blue icing all around his mouth. To his chest, he hugged a white bodied unicorn that had a rainbow tail and mane and a golden horn off the top of his head. _Rainbow._ Thats what Tyson called the unicorn Annabeth won him at Coney Island.

Annabeth looked at the image of herself with her arms wrapped around Tyson's little frame as she held him against her, her cheek resting against the blue party hat on Tyson's head, she had a bright smile on her face. Annabeth loved Tyson dearly, it made her realise how much she loved children, how much she wanted her own kids, how much she wanted to have kids with Percy.

He gaze flicked over to Percy and she felt her heart sigh in pure blissful happiness as she gazed at the man her heart had always belonged to but the guilt came and crushed her happiness bubble that she was cocooned in. She knew that she was the reason that they were apart, it was her own fault for letting her heart wonder, she knew what she did was wrong and she regretted it but she also in a way was thankful for it cause it made her realise how much she really did love him.

As contradictory as that may sound, she wasn't sure how she felt about Luke but after Percy left and Luke dumped her cause she refused him did she realise that Luke had never felt anything for her. She knew she made the biggest mistake running away, if she hadn't been a coward that day and just stayed and waited, she and Percy could have worked through things then and there instead of being in this situation they are in now.

She could have saved a lot of both of them a lot of misery, heartache and loneliness if she had just stayed but now she was giving a second chance to correct this mistake she had made. She had always felt like time was running out for her to fix things with Percy and she hoped that it wasn't too late to repair things with him.

"Miss, we're here." The cab driver said as Annabeth nodded and handed him the money and got ready to go on her journey back to the place where she had always know was home in her heart.

* * *

It was almost midday when Annabeth finally stepped out into the New York noon sun and she already felt the wonderful warmth she got in the sunlight. The flight had left her exhausted but she felt awake and alive again as the cab driver that had pulled up in front of her packed her bags into the cab.

"Welcome to New York, miss." He greeted with a cheerful smile, he was young, his blonde hair sticking out from a knitted green beanie with a vest underneath his unzipped hoodie that consisted of dirty intermediate colours of grey that seemed to match his eyes. His were like her own, a pale grey with blue highlights that seemed to match the patterns on his jeans with a pair of old black high tops.

"You don't have to call me miss." Annabeth said softly as she climbed into the back on the cab to which the young man kindly closed the door for her before climbing in the driver's side of the cab. "Call me Annabeth and thank you. This isn't my first time here, it's just been a long time since I was here." He nodded as he started on the road, "Mind telling me your name?"

"Malcolm, mi-I mean Annabeth." He corrected himself quickly when he noticed the look in Annabeth's eyes. "So where am I taking you too, Annabeth." He said in a whimsical tone.

Annabeth gave him the address of the apartment and she and Malcolm had a very whimsical conversation all the way there. Annabeth learned that Malcolm was nineteen years old actually at NYU studying architecture and Annabeth certainly had fun telling him about the firm she worked at and even offered to see if there were internships available for him cause the firm did offer that to current university students and the smile on his face was so blindingly white Annabeth had to cover her eyes.

* * *

Annabeth was grateful that Malcolm helped her carry her bags up the stairs and set them outside the apartment door. "Thank you so much Malcolm for helping me." Annabeth said as pulled out some money and gave a little extra to him for helping her.

"It's no problem, Annabeth. I hope your start in your office goes well and do call if you find out anything about those internships cause I would love to work there." He pleaded with a puppy dog face as Annabeth shook her head and smiled.

Annabeth pulled out the piece of paper that Malcolm had written his number on for her and smiled, "Don't worry, Malcolm. I have your number and I won't forget now scat, don't you have somewhere to be." Annabeth hinted as Malcolm smiled and headed down the stairs.

Annabeth tucked the phone number in her phone book and turned and faced the door of her old apartment. It took all of her strength to decide to finally knock because she suddenly got nervous and unsure if she should be doing this or not. She lived here once but the day she left, she left her key, she was so afraid that she left with the idea that she was never coming back which turned out to be a complete lie cause there was nothing but a door separating her and the first man who had stolen her heart.

With a sequence of five consecutive knocks, she waited anxiously as she heard voices behind the door. What was odd was she could hear a woman's voice and a man's voice as the door's lock clicked, the handle turned and the door opened and Annabeth froze when she saw who was standing in the doorway.

It was a woman, a woman with a head of curly, frizzy read hair with green eyes that were filled with confusion as she frowned and stared at Annabeth as she did a double take on the woman who stood there dressed in a baggy shirt that Annabeth presumed was Percy's cause it was far too big for her and nothing else.

"Um, who are you?" The woman asked with a confused tone as she cocked her head to the side and noticed Annabeth's bags.

"I'm Annabeth. I'm here to see Percy, well not see, its kinda complicated since we have history and that but who are you and what are you doing here?" Annabeth asked with widened eyes as she did a double take on the woman who was practically naked in the apartment with Percy who was supposed to be here alone.

The woman turned her head and called out, "Percy's there's someone here for you." She turned back and looked at Annabeth and smiled as she extended her hand, speaking words that had Annabeth's eyes widen, her heart drop, and her skin go pale as she stared in disbelief at the woman as she spoke the words like they were a curse on her soul.

"My name's Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I'm Percy's girlfriend."

* * *

 _Sorry I took so long with this chapter, my apologies, things have been really rough but anyway, I finally found the right song for this chapter and yep, I just did that and ended it just like that. He he he, I am evil and I hope you enjoyed it. See you all again soon, bye for now._


	5. Bad Blood

_Hey guys, I am back with another update. The last chapter had may people going insane and I just loved it he he he. Its time for the next chapter and its gonna be so much fun and most of you are going to curse me for this but I kinda had it planned from the beginning so he he here it is. P.S its inspired by Bad Blood by Taylor Swift._

* * *

It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

It was if Kronos had risen up from the underworld, reformed and frozen time all around Annabeth as she stared in disbelief at this things that claimed that Percy's girlfriend. She quite literally felt her heart die in that moment.

So many questions ran through her brain but the one question that hit her was, _Is this his way of getting revenge on me? Is he just getting my hope only to tear me down?_ She was almost in tears as she dropped her hand luggage to the floor the moment the word girlfriend left this woman's lips.

Annabeth was left gaping like a fish, her lungs desperately trying to draw in oxygen, not that she wanted to be alive at the moment as no sound left her lips as she tried to comprehend what to say after that.

The valedictorian of Goode High school didn't and couldn't form a reply, she couldn't even wing it or even play it cool. The Annabeth Chase had truly been stumped, with her heart dying a slow, painful agonizing death into Loneliness Street and Despair Lane of Sorrowville, Heartbreaktropolis.

"RED, what did you even say?" A familiar voice said as the person Annabeth had come to rekindle a broken relationship appeared in all his godly glory.

There before her stood, Perseus Achilles Jackson, the Greek God of sexiness and leg melting, heart racing, turning any girl that looks up him to goo and mush without even looking at them, with no shirt on. Out in the open, his rippling muscles that formed from years of swimming, running and lifting weights glistened with sweat, the clear image of a male sports supermodel physique with a tight six pack of washboard abs that you could wash your clothes on.

Hanging low on his hips was a pair of baggy running shorts, and by low, it was low enough that you could see the distinct V line running down underneath the shorts towards the very thing that made him a man. Annabeth could already feel his powers working on her, effectively her legs started turning to jelly but that wasn't her undoing.

His face was.

As Annabeth looked up at his face, she just felt her heart race a trillion miles an hour, effectively breaking the speed barrier that was her resolve as she stared at the way his hair was slightly sticking to his face. He was currently having large drink of water as his plastic bottle was already half empty and Annabeth gulped as she watched his Adam's able bob as he drank.

When the bottle was empty, the bottle was slightly scrunched as the plastic crackled beneath his fingers as he pulled the rim of the neck of the bottle away and Annabeth had to physically restrain herself from launching herself at him and kissing his perfectly formed, plump rose lips that were wet from the water and perfectly kissable.

Percy's gaze immediately flickered to Annabeth and she couldn't help but stare into his rich sea green eyes that were sparkling brighter than the stars in the sky, filled with intense curiosity as he formed a smile on his face as his eyes filled with surprise.

"Annabeth," he whispered in disbelief as they locked gazes, his green ones looking deeply into hers as his lips formed the words of the question that came. "What are you doing here?"

Annabeth was immediately brought back into reality as she smiled sadly at him, "I would've called but I know that you usually slept in late on a Saturday but I see you have company," the last word was like acid on her tongue as she knelt down and picked up her hand luggage, "so I'll just be on my way. I'm sure I'll be able to find a hotel or something." She mumbled, fighting the urge to cry as she grabbed her suitcase and started her way back down the hall towards the elevator.

She could feel the single tear running down from her eye as she reached up and wiped it away when she heard him call out, "Annabeth, wait!" she was brought to a halt when a hand gripped her shoulder and turned her round. She was immediately met by the concerned gaze of Percy and she bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from smiling at how cute he looked when he was concerned.

"Yeah, Percy." She answered simply, fighting to make sure her swirling emotions didn't betray her now.

"I didn't expect you to be coming until tonight." He said softly as he took his hand off her shoulder and tucked them into the pockets of his shorts as he rolled on his heels, one of his hands reaching up and running through his slightly wet black locks.

"Want to tell me why you decided to leave out the important fact that you already have a girlfriend living with you when you asked me to come back." Annabeth said as calmly as she could, fighting the urge to bite his head off at the betrayal she felt deep inside. "You guys seemed pretty cosy considering she is wearing your shirt and nothing else." That came out a little more annoyed and bitter than she intended to but Percy didn't seem to notice as he turned round and seemed to glare at the woman.

"Did she tell you she was my girlfriend?" Percy asked in an annoyed yet curious tone and Annabeth answered with a nod as Percy let out a laugh as she shook his head. "She does this to everyone." He muttered to himself as he reached out and grabbed Annabeth suitcase and her hand luggage, "Come with me please, Annabeth."

Annabeth couldn't help but follow when he asked like that as she crossed her arms over her chest as she followed him forward back to the apartment.

"Alright ladies. We seem to have started on the wrong foot." Percy said calmly as he glared at the red head. "First off, Rachel, stop telling people you are my girlfriend, if Octavian, your fiancé heard you saying that, he would demand to have my head mounted on spike."

Annabeth had to force herself not to sigh in relief, she had never been so relieved in all of her life to learn anything and hearing this Rachel character was engaged to someone else had her sighing in relief.

"Secondly Rachel, go get dressed, you look like a cheap, easy, excuse the rudeness, slut with just my shirt on." Annabeth had to hold in her snicker as the girl rolled her eyes and frowned at Percy as she checked her nails.

"Whatever Perce. Thanks for letting me crash the night anyway." She said calmly as she mounted her toes and pressed a kiss on his cheek, which caused Annabeth to scrunch her eyes and glare at the girl as her hand lingered on Percy's shoulder. "And Perce, lighten up. I was only playing around." She said with a giggle as she turned round and strutted back into the apartment.

Percy turned his head and sighed as he looked at Annabeth, "I'm sorry about that Annabeth." Percy apologized sincerely, "She's a one of Juniper's, Grover's wife friends and she needed a place to crash for the night cause she locked herself out of her apartment and her fiancé is out of town until today. He is actually on his way here now and she kinda has that flirtatious attitude."

"No kidding." Annabeth whispered to herself. "I know its weird, me dropping in so early and that but I managed to get an earlier flight so I thought I'd surprise you." Annabeth's voice went quieter, words becoming single sentences of their own as she looked down, finding her shoes very interesting.

"Well you certainly surprised me." Percy chuckled and Annabeth cracked a smile. "I am really glad you are here cause I have not had a decent home cooked meal in months. I have been eating so much junk food I am surprised I am as fit as I am."

That caused Annabeth to crack a smile as Percy lifted her bags and carried them inside, Annabeth following behind and she instantly felt all the memories of the time in together in this apartment from the time they first got it to the time they fought and Percy left and then she left.

She instantly felt at home again as she followed Percy to what would be her separate room, for now she hoped until they figured out where they stood and she she was really glad to be back. "How about I leave you to unpack and I will just put on a shirt and run down to the store and get real food according to you."

Annabeth couldn't help but smile.

"Anything specific you want to cook?" Percy asked curiously as Annabeth smiled.

"Nah, pick what you like and I will make it into food for you." Annabeth answered whimsically as Percy grinned brightly. "You know we will have to talk tonight about what we are gonna do about us." She said as she gestured between the two of them.

"I know." He said softly as he walked forward until he was standing right in front of her. He seemed to be debating about something before he reached out and took one of her hands in his as he gently rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. "I really meant it when I said I was glad you are here but there is one thing I think I have to say before I go and that is, can we maybe just be friends for now and just forget the past cause every time I think about it, it just..." He trailed off as his gazed saddened.

"I think that's a wonderful idea." She answered with a smile as she reached up and affectionately ran her hand over his head, messing up his hair a little as she chuckled, "Maybe there isn't so much seaweed as I originally thought was in here."

Percy smiled and chuckled with her as he released her hand and playfully swatted her hand away as he leaned back. Even when she stood on her tippy toes, she couldn't reach his head as they laughed and smiled.

"Do you really feel like cooking tonight, Wise Girl?" Percy asked, as if knowingly and Annabeth smiled.

"You know me too well, Percy." Annabeth said as she flopped down onto the bed and groaned. "I want junk food, please. If you get me something greasy and fatty and cheesy, not only will I love you forever, I bake you your mother's cookies everyday."

Percy lay down on her bed next to her, leaning his chin on his arms that were crossed on the bed, sticking his hand out to her. "You got yourself a deal, Chase."

Annabeth smiled and shook hands to that.

"Percy, have you seen my bra, I can't find it anywhere?" Rachel said as she peaked her head in from behind the door with her shirt pressed to her bare chest as Annabeth sat up and growled under her breath.

"Did you check in the wash basket where you changed last night?" Percy said as he turned his head and look at Rachel.

"It's not there." She said with a pathetic pout that had Annabeth going metal as Percy groaned and stood up, "I'll be right back, Annabeth." He said calmly as he walked out the room, Rachel smiling innocently and flirtatiously at the same time as he walked by her and out the room.

Rachel oddly remained but she turned her head and glared at Annabeth. "you don't wanna mess with me cause whether you like it or not, he is mine bitch." She said with a head roll. "I know you don't like me but I am here to stay and Percy is mine."

Annabeth felt herself fuming as she stood up and walked over to Rachel, if looks could kill, this girl would be dead a thousand times over and suffering in Tartarus. "You'd better buck up because baby, now we got bad blood because you had better stay away from Percy or the next thing you see will be my fist breaking that pretty little nose of yours you engaged hoe."

Rachel brow furrowed as her face hardened before she smiled.

"Let the games begin, Annabitch." With that, Rachel skipped out the room, cooing Percy's name as she moved through the apartment.

Annabeth sighed and reached up to her neck and hooked her fingers onto the chain around her neck and looked at the ring in her hand. "Nothing will take him from me, not this time. Percy Jackson is mine and RED had better be prepared for war because in the end, I will be the victorious one."

The war was about to begin but for now, Annabeth had to focus on fixing things with Percy and to do that, she had to get past the first step which was making a friendship work with the Greek God she wanted pounce the minute he lay down on her bed.

* * *

 _Ha ha ha, I had you fooled, Percy is single but things are just picking up cause things are about to get interesting so I hope you guys are ready cause how is Annabeth gonna deal being just friends with Percy and don't you just think Rachel is such a slut, she is engaged after all. This is going to be fun. Anyway, I don't know when I will update next because I have been in hospital since not long after the last update. I am healing, just going through rough treatment but I am doing better. I love you and will see you all again soon._


	6. Reminiscing On The Past

_Hey guys, sorry I took so long with this but I am still sitting in hospital and I finally convinced someone to bring me my laptop cause I was about ready to throw my tiny ass phone out the top floor window after I beat it with a sledge hammer and threw it in a crematory. Anyway it took me some time to surf through my song list and online I finally found the perfect song. Can you guess what it is and no there is no hint in the title and yes not all the chapters will feature the name of the title? Prepare for fluff and drama._

* * *

It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

Percy had left a few minutes ago, shortly after RED (as Percy referred to her) had been collected by her fiancé and she could see that this Octavian character didn't like Percy at all. Size wise he was scrawny and wasn't as attractive as Percy (no comparison at all in Annabeth's mind) and he was seriously weird.

When he arrived, Rachel was still walking around with Percy's shirt on and of course the guy got all threatening but the weird thing was that he threatened to gut Percy's teddy bears like tuna if he even so much as looked at Rachel in an inappropriate way.

Percy didn't look intimidated at all and when Annabeth walked in and Octavian noticed all of the pictures of her and Percy all round the apartment and he seemed more relaxed but that didn't stop him from giving a final glare at Percy after Rachel gave him a peck that was a few centimetres away from Percy's lips.

After that Percy put on a shirt, phoned the pizza place and said he would be there in twenty minutes to collect it because he felt like going for a run and he didn't want to pay extra for the delivery when it was a few blocks away from the apartment.

When he left Annabeth decided that it was time to settle back home.

Now, when it came to her clothes and cupboards, Annabeth was a calculated and neat person when it came to organising her clothes. She had pulled open the doors of the cupboard and all the draws of the dressers and looked at the space she had.

Admittedly she hadn't expected almost all of her old clothes to be here, almost the exact way she left them. She didn't know if she would fit into most of the outfits so she would definitely have to go shopping for clothes at a later date (something she greatly dreaded).

Annabeth set to work, pulling each item of clothing out of her bag and laying it on the bed and she meticulously folded each piece of clothing before she placed in the place she wished it to go whilst at the same time she looked through all her old clothes.

One outfit particularly caught her eye, well it wasn't an outfit but it was the packaging that encased the item of clothing that lay beneath it. She was hesitant at first but grew a pair and pulled the dress bag out the cupboard and laid it on the bed.

In truth she hadn't looked upon this dress in years. The last time she did was two years before she ran away from her problems. This dress entailed a sweet story of the young love that brewed between her and Percy when Percy snuck her out of her seventeenth birthday party and did the most reckless seaweed brained thing on the planet.

He snuck her onto a yacht club party.

She smiled to herself as she gently pulled the zipper open, not wanting to catch the fabric of the dress that lay beneath the cover. When she pulled open the cover like she was opening double doors did she reach inside and pull out the dress from its protective case and gazed upon it.

It wasn't anything fancy, it most certainly wasn't a designer dress, and her family wasn't rich. They got by and it was her mother and father that chipped in their savings to buy this dress for her. She wasn't into dresses but they hadn't been able to buy a dress for her for her sixteenth so they made it up to her on her seventeenth.

She found it sweet when her mother spoke like a sales woman when she described the dress. Annabeth could still remember the exact description she gave. It went something like, _"With a flair for the dramatic, this beautiful rich platinum coloured, one shoulder chiffon dress is ruched and ruffled to perfection. Features include a crystal accent on the shoulder that links a sweeping shoulder train. Accessories include a simple pair of low heels perfect for you."_

It certainly was beautiful. The dress had almost like a ruched belt around the waist with it following the width of her waist. The bust of the dress had a diagonal ruche that led up to her left shoulder which had the crystal strap that wasn't too small but too big either. The sweeping train was flowing and floated delicately in the air when she walked and it reached no further than the hem of the dress which was right above her knees. The colour itself almost reminded her of silver but mixed with grey to soften the colour but it was still rich in tone.

Annabeth fell in love with this dress and she wasn't even a dress person and Percy certainly thought she looked gorgeous in it. She smiled as she sat down on the bed and held the dress between her hands and she sat there staring at the dress as her mind drifted to one of her favourite memories.

* * *

" _Percy, this is a crazy idea." Annabeth whispered firmly in Percy's ear as she tried to keep her composure. Was this idea of Percy's nuts? Hell to the yes it was. From him sneaking her out from her own party to taking her to an all night ice cream parlour to attempting to sneak in to a yacht club party._

" _Just trust me Annabeth. I have a plan." Percy said as the line they stood in moved forward as more people were allowed into the yacht club._

" _A plan? From that seaweed filled brain of yours?" Annabeth said with widened eyes as she looked at the bouncer who was checking the list of guests. "We are going to be arrested and are going to go to jail and jumpsuits do not suit me Percy. I hate orange and jumpsuits." Annabeth said in almost a panicked voice._

 _What had she gotten herself into when she became friends with this mad hatter over here?_

" _Will you be quiet and just follow my lead!" Percy yell/whispered as they got to the front of the line. Annabeth felt slightly awkward as Percy's arm went around her waist. It was a very intimate move and it made Annabeth's cheek flair since she had developed a crush on her best friend._

" _Name please." The big burly, body builder of a bouncer asked as he looked up at them with a curious eye._

 _In that moment, Annabeth's bag fell to the floor. "Dammit." Annabeth said, thinking she had dropped it accidently and most of its contents sprayed out all over the floor._

" _Allow me to help you miss." The bouncer offered as he knelt on the ground, placing the clipboard on the floor and knelt down with Annabeth and Percy as they collected her stuff. When they had collected everything, they all got back to their feet._

" _Thank you so much sir. I honestly hate handbags." Annabeth confessed honestly as she shouldered her bag and smiled gratefully at him._

" _No problem, miss. Now name and tickets please." He asked and Annabeth froze but then she watched as Percy handed him what looked to be two invitations. The bouncer smiled and looked on his list and at the invites and smiled. "Welcome sir." He said to Percy as Annabeth stared at Percy in disbelief as he smirked. "You can go right in."_

 _Percy smiled as his hand gently pressed into Annabeth's lower back as he urged her into the party. Percy led her over to a quiet corner and when they were there, she finally spoke up. "How in Hades name did you get us in?" Annabeth asked in disbelief._

 _Percy smirked he tucked his hands in his tuxedo pockets, "I may have taken some reserved tickets for a wealthy business man by the name of Triton Olympia."_

" _Your brother is invited to this party!" Annabeth said in disbelief._

" _I had no idea. I just grabbed the first two invites and they happened to be Triton's invites and the other day he mentioned that he would only be attending this party on behalf of dad and it would be after ten when he gets here and right now, it's-" Percy said as he looked down at his watch and smiled, "-only six thirty-two so we have a few hours to kill before they catch us."_

 _With that, Percy grabbed what looked to be champagne flutes filled with what Annabeth assumed to be champagne and handed a glass to Annabeth. "I am not old enough to drink Percy and neither are you." Annabeth squeaked as Percy shook his head._

" _My older brother doesn't drink so they flew in a couple of cases of chamdor which is sparkling fruit juice just since he doesn't want to look senior wimpsalot in front of dad's yacht club buddies and of course his girlfriend Khione who has refined tastes." Percy said as he took a sip from the champagne flute and smiled. "It's specifically requested on the ticket so that benefits us perfectly."_

 _Annabeth was just in awe. Maybe Percy wasn't as much as a Seaweed Brain as she originally thought and that caused her to smile brightly at her best friend who for a moment was the genius of the two of them._

 _Percy saw her smile and grinned as they chimed flutes and Percy smiled as he said, "A toast to the birthday girl." Annabeth absolutely, one hundred percent knew the real reason she had a crush on him. He thought about her, he cared about her, he was everything she needed. She smiled as Percy said, "Happy birthday, Wise Girl." He whispered softly as he tucked a strand of her blonde princess curl behind her ear which caused her breath to hitch and her body to freeze when his hand brushed against her cheek._

 _He downed his drink and placed the flute down and grabbed Annabeth's hand and grinned, "May I have this dance, Duchess." He said when the music started play and it was a fun upbeat tune that had Percy in a dancing mood._

 _Annabeth gained control of her wits and finished her flute of sparkling fruit juice and grinned at Percy, ready to have fun. "Oh my, what a marvellous tune?" Annabeth said in a British accent as she curtsied. "Why yes my prince. I would be honoured to dance with you, your highness." She said in a playful tone as the two giggled and ran right onto the dance floor._

* * *

Annabeth smiled to herself. They danced like maniacs in a place that was dressed to the nines to a song she couldn't remember. It was the best night and she would never forget how he moved.

She giggled at the memory of Percy getting down on the dance floor with her when a hand touched her shoulder, practically scaring her out of her wits as she shrieked and fell off the edge of her bed and onto the floor. "Annabeth, are you alright?" A concerned Percy asked as he crouched down in front of her and helped her up off the floor.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Annabeth said, waving off Percy as she picked up her dress off the floor. "I was in my head and you gave me a fright." Percy chuckled at Annabeth which caused her to frown.

"You reaction was funny." Percy admitted out loud which earned him a slap upside the head which only made him chuckle even more.

"You just like pushing my buttons, don't you?" Annabeth said as she crossed her arms over her chest. Percy had a cheeky smile on his face as he nodded. "I hate you Perseus Jackson. You are the bane of my existence." Annabeth said in an angry yet playful huff as she turned her back to Percy and started packing her dress away in its bag and then she felt arms go around her waist and pull her up straight.

She could hear Percy's breathing as he rested his chin on her left shoulder and held her against his body and she sighed in happiness. Nothing felt more right than being right in Percy's arms. "I am sorry, Wise Girl." He whispered softly as she leaned back into him. The nickname was the icing on the cake.

"I can never be mad at you, Seaweed Brain." She said softly as she sighed.

"You remember what happened the night you wore that dress?" Percy said as he looked down at the dress and Annabeth could just see the smile gracing his face from the corner of her eye.

"I remember Percy. You snuck us into a yacht club party and for fun we pretended to be a duchess and a prince. We were dancing and dancing and just having a good time." Annabeth said as she just loved the feel of being in Percy's arms; she felt safe in his embrace.

"Getting there was just as fun and a there were a few sad moments. We were 17 and crazy, running wild and on the way back we stopped at the pier and I tried to skip rocks on the ocean which I still suck at." Annabeth chuckled, Percy doing the same with her as they remembered the wonderful memories they shared. "And of course you were too busy being worried about college and SATs on your birthday and of course about your mom being sick was really getting to you."

Annabeth smiled sadly as looked at the dress and remembered her mother. "You said to me, "Look at you, worrying too much about things you can't change," as you attempted to skip your rocks." She said softly as she turned round in Percy's arms and looked up into his eyes, her hands resting flat against his chest and his hands remained locked around her waist.

"You talked about how you were going to lose her and that you should drop out of school to focus on helping her at home and taking care of her." He said as he held gently onto her, recalling the events of that night.

"And you said, "You'll spend your whole life singing the blues if you keep thinking that way," as you pulled me into a hug and I laughed." Annabeth said with a sad smile on her face. "I wondered when you became so philosophical and so wise-"

"-and I said that I learned it from you." Percy finished her sentence with a smile as he reached up and cupped Annabeth's cheek and wiped away her tear that she didn't even know had fallen. It was an automatic reaction when he saw her cry or saw her upset. "The night ended in a way I never expected it to."

Annabeth looked up into his eyes and remembered when he finally snuck her back into her house through her window and then before Percy left, they shared a moment and stared into each other's eyes and then Percy leaned in and brushed his lips against Annabeth's.

"We... kissed." Annabeth said hesitantly as she looked up into his eyes. "And then we told each other that we liked each other and that is the day were started Percabeth according to our friends." Annabeth said with a laugh which didn't elicit a reaction from Percy like she thought it would.

Next thing she knew, Percy had cupped her face in his hands and leaned his forehead against hers which caused her breath to hitch. She hadn't been in this close proximity to him in years, it just made her emotions and feelings swirl into an explosion of confusion. She felt like she was seventeen again and falling in love with him all over again.

"You know I loved you from the beginning didn't you?" He asked softly as he looked into her eyes. She nodded at him as she looked deeper into his eyes, searching for what she was hoping was still there.

Love and it most certainly was.

"You hurt me badly Annabeth. I blamed myself for losing you, for not trying hard enough to fight for you when I shouldn't have blamed myself." He whispered in a broken tone, the pain in his eyes almost killing Annabeth and ripping her heart in half in the most violent way possible. "You broke me, and broke my trust Annabeth." He said as his got softer, as if he was desperately fighting to contain himself.

"I know." Annabeth whispered guiltily, her eyes filling with tears as she reached up and placed her hand over Percy's.

"I want there to be an us but I don't know if I can be in a relationship yet Annabeth." He said as he closed his eyes. "I need time, I need space. I still need to heal." He said as Annabeth's heart literally screamed in agony inside her chest as it crumbled into nothingness. She knew this was coming, she just didn't expect it to hurt so much.

"I...I understand." Annabeth said as she dropped her hand to her side and tore her gaze away from his and pulled away, fighting the tears that wanted to fall over the edge of the of her eye lids like a rapid pouring waterfall. "If it's not too much trouble could you please just bring me a slice or two cause I have to finish un-packing." Annabeth said slowly, her breath hitching each word she spoke as she turned her back to him and started packing the dress away.

"Sure." He said in a tone that matched her. She heard his footsteps and then she heard them stop and Percy spoke up, "I still want us to be friends but I just need time." He said in a soft voice before he closed the door. The minute she heard the door click signalling that her door was closed did she break down and let the tears fall from her eyes and fought the sobs that wanted to claw their way out her throat.

She knew she deserved the cold shoulder she received; she deserved the turndown he gave her. She deserved every ounce of pain and gut wrenchingly painful quilt that coursed through her veins like liquid nitrogen. She deserved it for hurting and betraying him the way she did.

She loved him and to her he was worth the pain. It was a start that he stated how he felt and at least they were sort of acquaintances but the friendship was going to have to wait and when Percy was ready, she would be there waiting until he was to begin again.

* * *

 _Seriously guys, you must be trying to kill me with the number of reviews you write for me like Holy Sweet Mother of Rhea I love you guys. I can't believe I have written five chapters and you have given me over a hundred and fifty reviews. Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter which was awesome so thank you all. I am glad you enjoy my story. I will do my best to get the next chapter out as soon as possible._


	7. True Feelings Revealed

_Hey everyone. This is the next chapter that you have all been waiting for. Things are really going to pick up and we certainly going to get deep into the heart of the story. Hope you like this chapter that has what most of you have been expecting and the title says it all. P.s all chapters are inspired by a song as you know and there is one line from an awesome song. So Much For My Happy Ending by Avril Lavinge. Hope you like the chapter.  
_

* * *

It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

Annabeth really hadn't slept well, in fact she hadn't sleep at all which was bad considering it was Sunday and usually Percy slept in. It was roughly around six when Annabeth tiptoed out of her room, not wanting to disturb Percy from his peaceful slumber. She took the liberty of looking round her old apartment, well more specifically the design room Percy had put together for her when they first moved in as her birthday present since she had just gotten the job of dreams.

She stood outside the door, staring at the closed door, wondering if whether or not she should venture in. It felt like it was closed for a reason, as if it was a forbidden sanctuary that would curse anyone who entered this room. She was tempted to not go in but she mustered up the courage and placed her hand on the door knob and turned it. The door creaked open as Annabeth stepped into the room and examined her surroundings.

The room hadn't changed at all. Apart from the blanket of dust that had settled on her desk, it looked exactly as how she had left it. She looked at the desk and noticed the design she had first designed. It was a house but not just any hose, a house for her and Percy for when they wanted to start a family.

Percy had always said that unlike his own father, he was going to be their for his kids. Percy and his real father had a very rocky relationship considering all that Poseidon Olympia did was send checks to Sally. He had never once visited Percy, well not until Percy was in his twenties.

The house was basically Percy and Annabeth's dream house. It was this design that got her the job of her dreams. They had to submit an original design that was personal to the applicant that not only shows their skills but their attention to minute details.

She smiled at the picture of her and Percy that hung next to the framed design. It was a picture of them on the big large plot of land they had bought together. They looked so happy. Annabeth was laughing as Percy was tickling her. He had always had great timing.

Before she ran away, the two were actually planning on making the design a reality. They were supposed to start construction of their dream house the new year after Percy found out about Luke.

When she said she knew she wrecked everything, she meant everything.

She opened up the curtains and let the morning sunlight illuminate the room and opened the windows and aired the room. It didn't take her long to clean away the dust and make the room looked like that at least it had been used in the last five years.

She grabbed her company supplied Ipad that she used when it came to starter sketches and laid it on the table next to her blue print paper and set herself back up. She had work tomorrow and she needed to send a final submission to the California office since the customer had requested she finish it even if she was transferring.

With in half an hour of adding the final touches and adding little extra details here and there to make sure it was a hundred percent perfect; she rolled up the blue print and set it on the table, ready to take to the office tomorrow for them to mail it. She suddenly felt the urge to make something to eat and then it registered in her mind the promise she made to Percy yesterday.

She had promised to make him his mother's blue chocolate chip cookies. Sally was an exceptional baker and Percy loved blue and she put those two things made the key to Heaven in Percy's mind. Percy said that those cookies always reminded him of home because home is where the heart is and of course the only way to that man's heart was through his stomach and the easiest way is with cookies.

She tiptoed round the house quieter than a mouse in silent movie and moved as quietly as possible as she made the cookies. Thankfully Percy had all the ingredients for the cookies so it was easy to find everything. She moved with a delicate grace through the kitchen as she prepared the batter and gently folded the milk chocolate chips in and just for fun she added the dark chocolate chips and the white chocolate chips she found so it was a delicious chocolaty heaven.

She couldn't help but smile as she placed perfect scoops of the mixture on the baking sheet, making a batch of two trays with roughly twenty cookies on each. This is Percy so she had to make enough for an army as she put them in the oven and smiled. She knew Percy would be up the minute these were ready considering he had the nose of a bloodhound when it came to food, especially his mom's cookies so she decided to start breakfast.

She had tidied up everything before she took out her frying pans and got to making some omelettes for them, prepping all of her ingredient to go in the omelette and the eggs. The timer dinged indicating that her trays of cookies were ready so she pulled them out and set them on the space of her station and left them to cool and just as she predicted, Percy walked in.

She had to fore herself not to stare at him considering he was wearing his favorite pair of finding Nemo boxers (no matter how old he was, he still loved that movie) and nothing else. He never really knew what a shirt was when they were together. He yawned as he reached up and scratched the back of his neck before his eyes fell on the cookies. "I thought I smelled cookies." He said as he went and poured himself a cup of coffee from the fresh pot Annabeth brewed, the rich inviting scent seeming to wake him up more.

Annabeth could already see how there was this awkward bubble surrounding them but she just acted as if they were normal, "I made a promise didn't I?" She stated simply as she poured some milk into Percy's coffee for him which made him crack a small smile as he sipped the hot liquid that was oddly refreshing. She noticed his eyes ogling over the cookies, he so desperately wanted one and the little pouty lip that was forming was so cute Annabeth just relented, "You can have one, Seaweed Brain. They are for you."

Percy grinned for the first time as he picked up one of the now warm cookies and put the entire thing in his mouth which made Annabeth role her eyes. Percy moaned at the taste which gave a little bit of relief considering she didn't know if the dark chocolate was too much. "Good Gods woman i remember why i wanted to marry you. These are just as good as mom's!" Annabeth smiled, glad to see that Carefree and fun Percy had come out. He had a thought processing look on his face as he chewed the cookie, sounds escaping his lips before he finally came to his conclusion, "You added white chocolate and dark chocolate didn't you?" He said knowingly.

"Right on the money Seaweed Brain." Annabeth stated as she picked up one of the blue cookies and took a small dainty bite of the cookie and smiled. Even though she made them, these cookies really tasted like mother's love since Sally Jackson made these with love. "So tell me, what do you want on your omelette?" Annabeth asked as she let him have a look at all of her ingredients.

"The usual with extra cheese," Percy said with a smirk, as if he were testing Annabeth's memory. She smiled and mixed together in a bowl, bacon, fried onions, chorizo, mushrooms and green peppers with Gouda cheese and some extra cheddar. "You remember?" Percy asked; a little shocked as he watched her work.

"Yeah, I remember that you never really liked tomato. You prefer it as a sauce on pizza or pasta but you won't eat it any other way and I know you like two cheeses in your omelette." Annabeth said as she poured the eggs onto the pan, "Besides Seaweed Brain. I've know you for how many years, and most of those years I have lived in the same house as you. Even after not seeing you for almost five years, I never forgot anything."

Annabeth knew she shouldn't had said that but her mouth ran away with her, she didn't want to cause Percy any emotional distress. She cared about him too much to do that to him.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Annabeth said regretfully when she saw the distant look on Percy's face. She poured the mix on the omelette and folded it over and put it on the plate for him with two pieces of white toast that were buttered already and turned everything off.

"Are you not going to eat anything?" Percy asked in a concerned voice when he finally noticed that Annabeth wasn't making anything for herself.

"I'm... not hungry anymore." She said softly as she started washing everything up, noticing that Percy hadn't moved from where he was standing. She understood that he needed time to heal but that didn't mean that some of the things he was doing wasn't hurting her.

"Annabeth, I-"

"It's fine, Percy." Annabeth interrupted as she turned to face him, noticing how guilty he looked. "I'll just get out of your way so you don't have to see me every five seconds. I know you need time so Iwill just keep my distance." She said sadly, she felt like he didn't want her here no matter the fact that he said he did.

"Don't do that Annabeth." Percy said with a sigh as he leaned his elbows on the kitchen counter, getting frustrated with the situation, "I am sorry if my need for space and time inconveniences you-"

"Inconveniences me?" Annabeth asked in a shocked voice as she let out a dry chuckle, "No, it doesn't inconvenience me, Percy. The fact that you said you wanted me to move back home before you even discussed your need for 'space' from me with me." Annabeth growled back, noticing the anger growing on Percy's face as the fighting escalated, "I knew you were stupid sometimes I didn't think you were stupid enough to put us both in a situation that hurts us both."

"There you go again throwing around the stupid card again." Percy talked back, his voice getting angrier by the second as he stood up, "You treat me like I am idiot. I was in shock from seeing you. I had all of these feelings hitting me like a goddamn freight train traveling faster than the speed of fucking light when I saw you again. Of course I wasn't thinking with my head. I was thinking with my stupid heart because that is how much I loved you and wanted you." he shouted back, his eyes not meetings hers after that last phrase.

Annabeth stood there frozen in time as her eyes glassed over as she croaked out, "Loved?" in the form of a question. He had said loved, as in the past tense. It finally dawned on her, "You don't love me anymore do you?" she struggled to say that sentence as she looked him dead in his green eyes that were now flooded with guilt and uncertainly and the biggest one of all, confusion. "Please Percy." She begged, "Just tell me if you do or not."

"I... don't know." Annabeth whimpered, her heart felt like it had been stabbed with a sharp knife, almost killing her instantly as it was ripped out of her body in the most viscous cruel way possible. She finally realized why he looked so uncertain last night when she looked him in the eyes. She saw the love but there was the uncertainty and guilt in them and now she knew why.

"Is there someone else?" Annabeth asked fearfully as she struggled to control her eyes that were filling with tears after she asked that question but she needed to know if she ever even had a chance.

Percy didn't answer for a long time; they just stood there, frozen in time like a photograph and after a long time of waiting and fearing, Percy answered, "No. There isn't someone else." In truth that admission hurt more than if there was actually someone else. It would have been easier to handle if he had been in love with someone else but it hurt more knowing that he didn't feel the same way he had about her and it was her own fault.

Annabeth bit her lip, it was hard enough to draw blood as she struggled to contain her swirling emotions and to contain the sobs of despair and heartache that wanted to escape her lips. _So much for my happy ending,_ Annabeth thought sadly as she reached up and wiped the tear that fell from her eyes, "I-I see."

"Annabeth..." Percy started as he sighed heavily, "You were everything that i wanted and you still are but we lost what we had the minute you started seeing that man." Percy said sadly as he picked up the last picture they took together. It was taken of the two of them at Annabeth's last birthday in New York, they were so happy, so perfect and then it was lost.

When Percy said that, it was like another painful stab to her heart as she whimpered. She had never felt so small in her life. She had an amazing man who loved her; they were ready to build a home for their own family and she destroyed it all. She didn't even know why she thought that they could go back to the way they were.

"I made a stupid mistake and I know it wrecked everything and I know this won't mean anything but I am sorry, Percy." Annabeth said as she breathed in deeply and looked up at the room. "I was stupid for thinking that there was still a chance you would love me after what I did to you."

"No, Annabeth, I didn't mean it like that." Percy said quickly, knowing where Annabeth was going with this.

"Its alright, Percy. I received the message loud and clear." Annabeth said with a tearful smile as she turned round and walked towards her room with Percy following her, "I will stay out of your way and I won't make you try and love me again. I will always love you unconditionally, Percy Jackson." She pulled out her suitcase and started packing everything she had brought with her.

"So you are just going to run away again?" Percy said in an angry tone as Annabeth froze in the middle of packing and breathed in.

"I doing what's better for the both of us." Annabeth said softly. "I meant it when i said i want to mend us but me being here is hurting the both of us." Annabeth said as she turned to face Percy as he looked away, knowing she was right.

"Where will you go then? You've been back for less than a day."

"I don't know but it's better if i leave." Annabeth sobbed as she picked up another shirt to pack but she was stopped by Percy's hand resting on top of hers. She didn't dare look up into his eyes in fear that she would see that there is no love his eyes for her anymore.

He was silence for a long time as they stood there frozen in place before he finally spoke, "I let you go once, Annabeth..." His hand moved and gently cupped her chin and turned her head so she was looking him directly in the eyes. She stared right into his deep rich green eyes, the green eyes she had been in love with for years as they stared right back into her own grey ones. His expression was unreadable as he continued to speak, "I am not letting you run away from me again." He said in a firm set voice.

"Then what do you propose we do?" Annabeth asked softly, unable to take her eyes off of his, struggling to catch her breath because the proximity was making her heart race.

"Start from the beginning again." Percy said as he dropped his hand and backed away and smiled his lop sided smile that always made Annabeth feel weightless each time. "Tomorrow, I'll take you to work and tomorrow night, we are going to do what we always did as kids."

"Movie night?" Annabeth asked curiously as Percy nodded.

"I will see if Nico, Grover and Thalia are free tomorrow so that they can join us." Annabeth smiled. Starting off as friends was better than acquaintances and being surrounded by friends would make it so much less harder to cope with being near him and not being able to hold him or kiss hadn't seen or spoken to them since she had left. It made her even more scared now because she didn't know if they hated her or not for what she did to Percy. But she had to take that chance if she was going to fix this with Percy or not.

"Sounds good too me." It was a step in the right direction and Annabeth smiled at Percy. "Well, I'd better unpack...again." With the way she said it, it had the both of them laughing themselves silly.

There was hope yet for Percy and Annabeth and their relationship but Annabeth didn't know what she was in for when she went to work tomorrow.

* * *

 _Well i hope you all enjoyed that chapter, it was a pivotal point to bringing the friendship to the next step but what is in store for Annabeth in the next chapter. I love you all but i got to run. See you all with the next chapter. Bye for now everyone and thanks for all your uplifting words. Congrats to **LEPrecon elf holly short** for guessing correctly on the song for the last chapter and don't worry, I will be using the song you suggested, just in a later chapter. Thank you for all the 32 reviews you have given me, I truly appreciate it everyone. See you all again soon with the next chapter and yeah, i am finally updating off my computer at home. Thanks everyone for the wonderful messages, I am doing a lot better now. See you all again soon, bye everyone.  
_

 _P.s Six chapters in and already have 213 reviews, you guys are awesome. Thank you for the support and love you all have for my story._


	8. There Goes a Fighter

_Hey everyone, hope you enjoy the chapter. I got the chapter up on time so that is awesome and I am excited about this chapter cause here comes a shit storm that really kicks things into gear and seriously guys. 7 chapters, 250 reviews, I am in awe and in tears at the love you guys have for my story. Thank you, it means the world to me. hope you like this chapter everyone cause I enjoyed writing it._

* * *

It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

Annabeth honestly slept better after yesterday. Things had seemed to die down but she couldn't help but think of Percy's admission. She knew it was her own fault, she ran like a coward instead of confronting her demons and facing the music. Leaving, she basically told Percy that she was giving up on them and she didn't blame him for feelings the way he did.

The only thing that gave her closure is that he wasn't in love with someone else. It meant she still had a chance to make things right with Percy, it meant that she still had a chance to be with person who had always been her one and only. It would take a lot to ever earn back his trust and the trust of her friends again, but she was going to do it and she was going to do whatever it took to make things right.

Percy was worth fighting for, she just wished she had realised it sooner and would quit having a pity party. She was more anxious about the fact that she would been seeing their friends again. She didn't know what they would honestly think of her, she really didn't know what to think but right now, she couldn't focus on that. She had to focus on her first day back at work.

She had just finished getting ready when there was a knock on her bedroom door. "Annabeth, breakfast's ready. We leave in thirty. Oh and I made coffee." Percy spoke through the door, causing Annabeth to smile.

"I'm coming Percy." She yelled back, knowing he was already making his way back to the kitchen. The first thing that was on that man's brain in the morning was food and coffee. With a final look in the mirror as she contemplated if this is the look she wanted to go with for her first day back at work since the last time she was there was five years ago.

She growled and pulled off her black blazer and made sure that her white short sleeved blouse was tucked in behind the waistband of the knee length black skirt that she was wearing that was form fitted around her hips and was tight around her knees but not so tight that she looked like a statue when she walked.

Her hair was pulled back into a neat high ponytail, her bangs down and slightly curled as they framed her face in a delicate manor that made her look professional and beautiful at the same time. She slipped into the pair of black close toed, low high heels that she wore to work and walked out the room, scrolling through her emails on her Ipad as she made her way to the kitchen.

Percy was walking in through the front door with the newspaper in hand and a cup of coffee at his lips. He smiled when he looked up and saw her as he walked into the kitchen and placed the paper on the table. "Morning Annabeth. Sleep well?" he inquired as he handed her a cup of coffee that he had obviously already prepared for her.

"Very well." Annabeth answered, sipping her coffee, and enjoying the warm sweet liquid that quenched the tired beast in her body and woke up all of her senses. "Thank you for the coffee." She said as she grabbed a plate of French toast that Percy had made for her and set it on the table and started digging in. "I missed your French toast. Every time I ate French toast, all I could think was, 'This is nowhere near as good as Percy's' and I would pout all day dreaming about your French toast." Annabeth noticed the smile on Percy's face widen as he sat down next to her and started reading the paper.

It was in that moment that Annabeth had a chance to take in Percy's appearance. He looked really good, which was an obvious thing. Percy always looked good. It was in his new uniform he looked good. He told Annabeth about how he had decided to go to University and earned a degree as a Marine Biologist. Before I left, Percy worked as the manager of a larger surfboard manufacturer but it took so much of his time and it wasn't what he wanted to do with his life that's why he quite.

He had a Bachelor's in Business but decided to apply again and managed to grab a place and got a Marine Biology degree. He worked in a large lucrative chain of Aquariums and was finishing a trainee/internship before starts diving. The way he spoke about it, it was his dream to do something with the ocean and in truth, she knew how much he truly hated his old job and she was so proud of him.

As she said, he looked good in his uniform, simple pair of black dress pants, a blue shirt that was similar to the color of a recently chlorinated pool that looked so perfect in the sunlight with his company logo on the breast pocket of the short sleeved shirt that was tucked in neatly. With a pair of black dress shoes, it just made him look so professional and hot and she was trying not to admit that out loud so she stuffed her face with French toast and just smiled at him.

* * *

Annabeth stood in front of one of the tallest buildings in the city just over half an hour later, staring up in adoration at the company that she was employed at. In all honesty, it was one of the most lucrative architectural companies in the entire USA. Athena Parthenos Architectural Designs was the place Annabeth had always dreamed of working in since she was in high school and it was a hard road getting to the level she is at now but she overcame every obstacle that was thrown at her and she succeeded in reaching the level she is at now.

She turned round and noticed that Percy hadn't left yet, his car still there, him inside and encouraging smile on his face, urging her forward. She smiled back at him and gave a final wave and mouthed a 'thank you,' to him. He waved back at her before she turned round and walked in through the glass doors and was welcomed by the familiar buzzing life of that was the entrance lobby of the architectural firm that was and had been her home for a long time.

There were so many faces she didn't recognise, but there was one she remembered. Still seated behind the reception desk was the same face she hadn't seen in a long time. She smiled and walked over to the desk, leaning on the table casually as she spoke, "Good morning." She said in a casual voice as the person looked up, her face lighting up immediately as recognition crossed her face.

"Oh my god! Annabeth!" Piper McLean said excitedly as she stood up from her seat and zipped right round the desk and embraced hr old friend that she hadn't seen in years. "Like holy crap, you're here." She said in an excited tone as she pulled away and Annabeth got the chance to finally take a good look at her old friend.

Piper McLean had changed a lot since Annabeth last saw her. She had definately matured, her brown hair had been grown out and trimmed so that it was neat and even. With Piper's eyes she had a special pigment in her iris that caused her eyes to change colour when the lighting in a room changed. Annabeth had always been curious about it, and she enjoyed having fun by moving Piper around just so she could see her eyes change in a sequence of brown to blue to green when they were out.

The thing that caught Annabeth's attention, well the two things that captured her attention was the protruding baby bump that she was sporting at the beautiful gold wedding band around her finger. "Wow, married and pregnant. How much have I missed?" Annabeth said in a playful tone as she put her hands on her hips which made Piper giggle as she placed her hands on her belly. "How far along are you, Piper?"

"Four months." She answered as a bright smile appeared on her face. "Me and Jason got married a few months ago, we weren't really up for having a family yet but bobs your uncle I get nauseas in the mornings and get the cravings." Annabeth couldn't contain her excitement in her eyes but there was this deep cesspool of guilt swirling inside her as she smiled sadly. "We're both really excited."

So it looks like not only did Annabeth miss her best friends engagement but the wedding too. Jason who Piper spoke of was Annabeth's best friend, Thalia's younger brother and it was thanks to Annabeth and Thalia being friends that the two met and ended up falling in love and getting married with a baby on the way. "Well you look fantastic. You're glowing Piper."

"Don't feel guilty about missing the wedding Annabeth. We kind of just eloped at Vegas. Both ended up drunk and got married and when we woke up we talked and decided that we didn't want to get the annulment because the stress of planning the wedding was stressing us out." Annabeth let out a little sigh of relief, she could only imagine how pissed off Thalia was but she just smiled at her friend.

"I am so happy for you Piper." She said as she hugged her friend. "Guess I can't call you McLean anymore. I hope I don't confuse you and Thalia and Jason every time I call out the name, Grace." The two laughed together, Annabeth glad that Piper was here still so she didn't feel entirely alone.

When they pulled away Piper spoke, "One of these day's we must go for lunch and we can talk about everything that we have missed in each other's lives." Piper said with a grin as Annabeth nodded in agreement. She knew that she had missed out on a lot and they definitely needed to catch up as soon as possible.

"Of course. Now if you could do me a favor and phone Minerva and let her know I have arrived. She's expecting me since I am permanently transferring here again." Piper grinned, thankful to her know her friend seemed to be back for good as she went round her desk and sat back down, picking up her phone and hitting the speed dial button for the main office. "Morning Ma'am... yes, Miss Chase is here in the lobby... mhm, I understand ma'am... I will ask her and let her know." She pulled away from the phone and put a hand over the bottom part of the phone.

"Something wrong Piper?" Annabeth asked before Piper had spoken.

"No, Minerva wanted to know if you have those final blueprints for some client at the other office in California?" Annabeth gave a quick nod, pulling up the rolled up print she had picked up out her home office. "Good." Piper said before she returned to the phone, "Yes ma'am, she has the prints... of course, I'm more than happy to help... Alright ma'am, I'll send her up now." With that she put the phone down and smiled at Annabeth.

"Anything I need to know before I head up there?" Annabeth inquired as Piper stood up and came back round the desk.

"Just that she already has a project for you and that you will be informed on everything once you get up there and you also have an interior designed for the project there that the clients hired that should be arriving a little bit later" Piper answered smoothly as she stuck her hand out, "Let me take that blue print and get DiBiase to send it up to California for you. Minerva's orders." Annabeth handed the blue print over as she smiled at Annabeth.

"It was wonderful to see you Piper. I can't wait to catch up soon." Annabeth said as she hugged her friend.

"You too." Piper said as she pulled away and headed off towards one of the floor offices as Annabeth sighed and walked towards the elevator. She still felt a little nervous about seeing Minerva Olympia again. the last time she had spoken to her was after she arrived back in California and asked to be transferred.

The elevator ride was a short ride as she ascended to the top floor, the floor that housed her office several years ago and waited for the doors to open. The minute they did, she smiled at the familiarity of the place. Nothing had really changed and that was good cause it meant Annabeth didn't have to act like a newb to find Minerva's office or what might be her own.

She smiled and walked through, many faces sticking out from behind office doors that were previously closed, many of the faces staring at her in shock as she walked with confidence through the hall. She did recognise a few of the faces but maintained her focus as she walked up to the closed door, looking at the plaque on the door.

* * *

 **Minerva Olympia  
** **CEO of the Athena Parthenos Architecture  
Principal Owner and Chief Designer**

* * *

She reached out and knocked in a series of three consecutive knocks before she listened carefully and heard a voice telling her to enter. Gently turning the door knob and pushing the door open, she stepped inside and closed the door, taking one final look at all the faces that were watching her enter the room before she closed the door and turned round.

Minerva Olympia was seated at her oak wood carved desk that was positioned in front of the window that looked to the outside. Her back faced the window, her long black hair has been pulled back into a neat tight bun, her thin rectangular shaped reading glasses resting on the bridge of her nose as she looked down at something on her desk. She was obviously signing something and reading it over because only once her hand moved with her pen in hand did she look up and take off her reading glasses and notice Annabeth.

"Ah, Miss Chase. Please take a seat." She said in a professional tone, pointing to the chair that was on the right. Annabeth did as she was told and walked forward and took a seat, crossing her ankles underneath her chair. "It's lovely to see you again. I was very sad to lose you to the California office. I got so many requests for you to be clients designers that I had to get an answering machine because my phone nearly exploded from it." She said with a calm, cool smile.

Annabeth smiled back to be polite, "I am truly sorry about not going through the proper channels for the transfer and putting so much stress on you Miss Olympia." Annabeth apologized in the most sincere tone she could muster. She truly did feel bad about it.

"It's alright Miss Chase. I understand that there were... difficult and unplanned circumstances that happened here and that you needed time but I am very glad to have you back at long last." Annabeth smiled.

"It's great to be back."

"Now, onto business." Minerva said as she put on her reading glasses and opened a draw, obviously sifting through neatly organised files in her draw before she smiled and pulled one out, resting it on the desk. "I know you only just got back from California and haven't settled into your office yet but a client who I am sure you are familiar with requested that you start designs for his project immediately."

"Of course. I have actually unpacked at my old place and set up my office again at home so I am actually all set to start. I didn't even know I had an office still here." She said in a confused tone as she shifted in her seat.

"Of course." Minerva answered calmly as she seemed to be searching through the file in order to make sure it was the right one. "It's still the same one you had before you transferred." She informed Annabeth, not looking up at her as she answered. "ah, here it is." She said as she handed Annabeth the file so she could read the page she had found. "The client is a Mr. W. Dare. You did the designs for his last hotel he had constructed in Las Vegas, am I correct?"

"Yes. He was a very passionate business man. Very professional and reformed. Has quite a chain of hotels. Mt. Olympus Hotels, his partner was a Mr. Solace, if I remember correctly who came up with the them for the hotels and Mr. W. Dare runs Dare Enterprises which helps fund the hotels." Annabeth answered as she read the page, when she got a client she did a lot of hardcore and in depth research so she did the most perfect job she could.

"Correct and he wants you to design the new one that he wishes to have constructed here in New York. And he wants it big." Minerva said as she heard a knock on the door. "Come in." When the door opened, Annabeth hadn't looked up, she was more focused on doing some reading but instantly froze when she heard who Miss Olympia greated. "Ah, Rachel. Glad you could make it."

"Lovely to be here Minerva. I hope that this designer that my dad wants is finally here cause he is getting so overdramatically excited about this woman." The familiar voice scoffed.

"Of course. Annabeth. I'd like you to meet the interior designer and daughter to Mr. W. Dare of Dare Enterprises, Rachel Elizabeth Dare." Minerva introduced with a smile on her face but Annabeth was not smiling.

Annabeth kept a blank expression on her face as she stood up and took a deep breath before turning around and took in the appearance of the 5'7 curly red head with green eyes and a hard scowl on her face, dressed like a strumpet who was trying to be a business woman which she most certainly was not. Rachel's eyes were bigger than dinner plates when she saw who she would be working with was.

"Rachel, please allow me to introduce you to Annabeth Chase. The top designer in all of our firms." Annabeth smiled a hard smile but her eyes held anger as she turned to Minerva.

"No need for introduction, Miss Olympia." Annabeth answered coolly, not taking her eyes off of Rachel. "We have already met."

"yes." Rachel sair between gritted teeth. "We met the other day by complete accident. I had no idea you were an architectural designer." Annabeth couldn't contain her smirk as she shrugged, unable to hide her smugness and hate for the woman before her at all.

"Well that is wonderful." Minerva said with a big smile on her face. "Annabeth, you obviously need to organise a meeting with Miss Dare, and her father and his partner to discuss the designs but for now, I will let you get settled into your office. The file is yours, now if you will excuse me, I have meeting to get to." Minerva said, ushering the two out the room.

The minute the door closed, Annabeth full on glared at Rachel who was seemed glad to stop smiling the sickly innocent and fake smile that was plastered on her face. "I would have thought Percy would have told you my profession if you were as close as you said you were." Annabeth said with a growl and a hint of her previous smugness.

"Don't think I won't hesitate to tear you down, Annabitch." Rachel hissed, the two not caring about the people peaking out of their rooms and watching curiously. "I told you, Percy is mine and that you had best back off. If you think the fact that we have to work together changes anything, you are seriously wrong."

"I don't care if you could paint a portrait with you feet Rachel." Annabeth said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest and shrugging. "Percy doesn't need to be involved in my work. I suggest you think with your brain and not your ass and act professional when we work together or else daddy might just kick you off the bucket for letting personal feelings getting in the way of your career am I correct, Miss Heiress."

Rachel didn't say anything. Annabeth had done research on The Dares, she didn't know that Rachel was the fabled Heiress to Dare enterprises but she knew a lot about Mr. W. Dare and how dissatisfied he was when any of his employees let personal vendettas and feelings get in the way of their work. Harsh yes, ethical yes.

"Wouldn't want daddy to take away your privileges and your pocket money would he?" Annabeth said in a taunting and mocking voice that only drove Rachel closer to the edge of her anger.

"Whatever." She hissed as she turned on her heel but Annabeth reached up and turned her back to face her, getting all up in Rachel's obvious personal space. "What do you want, Annabitch?"

"Just wanted to tell you that Percy is mine. He's too good to fall for a strumpet like you. You'd have better luck trying to freeze hell so next time you try and get into a battle with me that you can't win, you can have the privilege of kissing my ass because this is a war that you will not win." Rachel let out a feral growl but Annabeth didn't break her confidence or her glare. "Run along little girl. I'm sure daddy's waiting in the car. Tick tock, your time's a ticking." She said as she tapped the screen of her watch without breaking eye contact.

"This is not over. Not by a long shot." She hissed deeply before she turned round stalked off towards the elevator as she said, "Call when you want the meeting. My number's in your folder." She actually hissed it as she walked away which made Annabeth smile.

1-Nil, to Annabeth. First battle won.

She couldn't help the smile on her face as she turned and made her way towards her office, smiling when she heard to people talking from behind her as she walked away.

"That's Annabeth Chase right?" A first male voice said as she walked away.

"Yep. Did you see what she just did there?" A female whispered but it wasn't so much as a whisper. "She stood up to the Red-Headed Nightmare." She said, her voice filled with obvious adoration and complete and utter disbelief.

"I know." A third said in complete disbelief, obviously another woman joining the gossip. "There goes a fighter." The woman said, obviously watching Annabeth walk away.

Annabeth smirked as she headed to her office. No matter what anyone did to Annabeth, whether they gave her hell, whether they gave her scars, whether they gave her pain she was gonna live life till the day she died. She was a fighter and the only thought she had in mind now walking into her office was, _Here comes a fighter._

* * *

 _Yep, I just did that. Annabeth and Rachel have to work together. He he he, this is going to be fun and interesting don't you think. Hope you enjoyed this chapter which is the longest one so far and aren't you glad I got it up early. I am a week early so, hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks for the support, see you all again soon everyone. Gotta run. Bye._


	9. Hey, Soul Sister

_Hey everyone, thanks for all the amazing and awesome reviews you guys sent me. I am so grateful for them. Your support keeps me writing and I am excited about the next chapter. Hope you are excited because I am. Enjoy. Inspired by Hey, Soul Sister by Train._

* * *

It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

When Annabeth clocked out of work this afternoon she didn't know if she should be nervous or not... oh who was she kidding. Of course she should be nervous because it had been confirmed. They were having a movie night and it was with Thalia Grace, the fire filled, hot headed Punk that Annabeth had grown up with, Nico Di Angelo, Thalia's boyfriend and of course one of Percy's closest friends who was dark, dangerous and you did not want to mess with him or anyone he was friends with.

Percy had texted her, saying that Grover wouldn't be making it. Now it was Grover that first introduced Annabeth and Percy to each other. He was kind of assigned to be Percy's 'guardian' when he arrived at their school and he was tasked with showing Percy the ropes and helping him out around the school grounds. He sadly was out of town, taking his conservation group to the Amazon jungle for a month.

But that didn't scare Annabeth any less. Thalia Grace could be flat out mean and was brutally honest. She didn't pull wool over people's eyes or bullshit with trying to dilute the truth of her statement. She told people her opinions flat out to their face and didn't give a damn about how harsh she was or if it was rude, hurtful or just rubbing people the wrong way.

Annabeth knew a lot about Thalia's temper, she never reigned it in, of course meeting Nico, her boyfriend had mellowed and tamed her down a little bit since his family he came from was well polished and pristine but Nico didn't let that hold his true nature down. He was well mannered but he didn't dress the part of a stuck up, professional business man he had grown into by his parents.

He had an obsession with skulls, motorcycles and heavy metal music, which is what made him a hundred percent perfect for Thalia Grace. In all honesty, Annabeth never had an idea of what Nico profession wise did but she knew from the last time she spoke with Thalia (five years ago) that she worked as a mechanic. It's actually how she and Nico met. His bike needed a tune-up and Thalia owns the auto-repair shop he brought it too. They've hit it off ever since.

Sitting on the bench outside the building, reading through the file that she had been given by Minerva, she thought she'd get a head start, using her Ipad, she started doing research. She knew a lot about Mr. Dare but she decided to re-educate herself since she hadn't once looked at anything she ever did in the past for him in over five years since construction was finished on the last building she did for him.

Through that research she discovered more about his prized princess of a daughter, Rachel Elizabeth Dare who was currently engaged to be married to the son of a very wealthy businessmen who owned a large range of publishing companies. In doing so, she finally looked upon the face of Octavian Michelangelo Castellan and that's when she realised something with seeing the surname.

Luke Castellan was of course Octavian's half brother, or illegitimate half sibling since Luke only recently was placed in the profile as one of Octavian's siblings. That honestl terrified her a little, he had already agreed with herself to tell Percy that she would be working with Rachel but to discover that her fiancé happens to be the brother of guy who she cheated on would really make things awkward because it was obvious that Percy didn't know.

Annabeth was so deep into her reading, she didn't notice the car that had pulled up in front of her, or notice the man who stepped out the vehicle. She practically jumped out of her skin when a familiar voice spoke right in her ear, "What ya readin' Wise Girl?"

She let out a squeak in surprise, nearly dropping her tablet onto the concrete in front of her but somehow managed to keep a hold of the very expensive device as she turned round and scowled at the familiar face. Percy was chuckling, still hunched over and obviously trying to catch his breath, a big stupid grin on his face which only made Annabeth scowl harder at him. "That was not cool Percy."

"Sorry but I couldn't resist." He apologized it but he didn't mean it cause he kept chuckling but it was dying down. "You were so absorbed in whatever you were doing, I couldn't help myself."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, remembered to close the protective cover of the device so it wouldn't get scratched in her purse along with the files she had been given before standing up, muttering, "Seaweed Brain," under her breath. When she turned round, Percy seemed to have calmed down but he had a strange confused expression on his face. "Something wrong Percy?" she asked.

He kept a confused look on his face, eyebrows scrunched as he asked, "When did you get glasses?" He pointed out, Annabeth realising that that her thin black framed, rectangular glasses still rested on the bridge of her nose. It damned on her in that very moment that she never told Percy that she needed to get reading glasses because she was struggling with her vision.

"I had to get these last year." She answered as she removed her glasses and put them neatly in their protective case as she continued to speak, "I spent so much time staring at computer screens and my tablet's screen it screwed my vision so I have reading glasses now."

Percy pouted but nodded in understanding as a grin appeared on his face, "They suit you." That left Annabeth feeling a little flushed, the fact that he acknowledged that she looked good was progress in her books. "Are you alright with Chinese tonight or do you want pizza. Thalia and Nico are bringing beer and their movie choice." Percy said as he opened the passenger side of the car for Annabeth.

She smiled as she climbed in, Percy closing the door for her as he climbed straight in as she answered, "I'm cool with Chinese as long as I get my springroll." Annabeth said with a cheeky grin as she put her seat belt on.

Percy mimicked her actions as he spoke, "As long as you don't steal any of my sweet and sour chicken." Percy retorted to which Annabeth just laughed.

"You know I can't promise you that. You're just gonna have to share with me." She teased, knowing how much Percy detested the thought of sharing food with anyone. Percy didn't share with anyone, even when she and him were dating, he never shared so she had to steal from him and that ended with a very wonderful make out session.

Annabeth flushed at the mere thought of Percy's lips crashing against hers, their tongues in a hot tango, their bodies pressed together, hands threaded in her hair, his hands caressing every piece of her visible skin...

 _Bad Annabeth, stop thinking like that_ , Annabeth thought, mentally berating herself. She had only just started working through things with him. She knew that it was going to take a long time before they ever tried the whole dating thing again. she didn't even know if they were even friends or at the moment just acquaintances. It was going to take a long time before they ever got back to how things were before she screed everything up.

Percy frowned at Annabeth with a giant pout on his face, "There is no way I am sharing with you so we are going to get pizza instead since that's what Thalia will probably want with her beer." Annabeth smiled, knowing that that was exactly what her best friend would prefer more than anything else.

* * *

It was an hour later that they were finally settled down back into the apartment and it was nearly time for Thalia and Nico to arrive so Annabeth took time to go and get dressed into something a little more comfortable. As much as she loved work, she loved home too and she was honestly grateful to be back in her apartment.

She hated being alone, feeling alone, the loneliness was her own fault in every way. She ran away like a coward instead of waiting. Instead of staying to try and fight for her relationship, to fight for him, for their love and happiness, she ran away and never looked back.

Fate had brought her back to New York.

The three fates had orchestrated her return to the place that in her heart had always been home. The three fates had given her another chance to fight after she failed in the first test that had been set in her path. She wasn't going to throw away this third chance she had gotten. She was going to make things right and her first test had just arrived because she heard the loud knocking on the door.

Annabeth sighed and pulled her hair back into a loose messy ponytail and made sure that her black tank top looked alright along with her loose baggy pajama bottoms and took in a deep breath. The sound of her door opening and closing behind her caused her to freeze when she saw the person who had entered in the reflection of her bedroom mirror.

She stared back into the familiar angry electric blue eyes that looked charged with literal bolts of electricity. There was a deep angry scowl on the familiar face that was had a messy head of black hair cut in a pixie cut. Thalia Grace was standing behind Annabeth right now and she was absolutely terrified in this very moment because Thalia Grace was unpredictable when she was angry.

Annabeth slowly turned round, unable to meet the eyes of the woman her had been like a sister to her for so many years. "At least have the decency to look at my face and not your feet when you answer me, Chase." Thalia seethed, her arms crossed over her chest as she stood there dressed in a pair of black jeans and a black death to Barbie t-shirt. Annabeth cringed but looked up and met Thalia's gaze, guilt flowing through her body like it was her own blood. "Why did you do it, Annabeth? Why'd you leave?"

"I made a mistake Thalia. a big one that I know I will never be able to take back and you will never know how sorry I am for doing what I did." Annabeth confesed, in all honesty, even she didn't know why she cheated on Percy. It could have been a number of things but she never came to a definite answer herself. "I was a coward. I ran instead of trying to fight for him but I was far more than a coward and just ran."

Thalia scoffed, "We all have to have a reason for our actions Annabeth. Whatever your reason is will never justify why you broke that man's heart!" Thalia yelled as she stomped closer to Annabeth. "He fucking waited for months for you to come back. He fucking called every single one of us to try and find out where you were to try and figure out if you were still wanted him or not!"

"I know that!" Annabeth shouted back, guilt completely overwhelming her, her mouth moving before her brain had time to think, "I screwed everything by leaving and I have felt guilty ever since and I know that I don't deserve the second chance that the incredible man behind that door has given me but one thing I do know is that I am not going to screw it up this time." Annabeth assured Thalia with her eyes glassing over, emotions overwhelming her.

Thalia had a stern expression on her face. She said nothing, all she did was remain silent to see what Annabeth was going to say because Annabeth had more to say.

"I know I have done a lot of things that I regret but I have never regretted anything more than doing the despicable thing I did to Percy. I never deserved him. I never deserved his love. I don't deserve his forgiveness. I don't deserve this second chance he has given me." Annabeth swallowed the lump in her throat as she sat down on her bed, taking in a shaky breath, "I am baffled that he even gave me another chance to be his friend again, let alone be anything more than that."

"What's to say he wants to be in a relationship again with you?" Thalia questioned, her eyes stilled filled with anger but her jaw wasn't as tight now.

"at this stage, there is no telling if we will ever be that way again but I just know that I cant not have him in my life. Not again. those five years of loneliness which were my own doing; they were hell without him." Annabeth reached up and wiped her eyes dry, swallowing her tears. "I don't care if he doesn't take me back, I don't care if he never wants a relationship with me ever again Thals, I would much rather be his friend than not have him at all. I need him in my life and if it means just being friends, then I will take it."

There was a long silence between the two, Annabeth remained unmoving as she stared down at her feet, and shoulder's sagged as she wrung her hands around themselves.

"It pissed me off big time that you never called or texted." Thalia said, finally speaking up as she moved forward and sat down next to Annabeth, seated with her elbows on her knees, back arched like the Hunchback of Notre Dame as she looked at Annabeth. "You went off the grid completely, I didn't know if you were okay until your dad called me and told me where you were."

"Thals, I-"

"hush up will you. Let me finish and then you can grovel and beg for forgiveness but let me speak first." Thalia said, a weak smile on Annabeth's face as she listened. "For weeks I considered coming to drag your ass down here, for weeks I considered hightailing it up there and beating the shit and an explanation out of you for hurting Percy because it hurt to see him so hurt." Annabeth winced but Thalia didn't notice. "I just felt so hurt that you didn't come to me. sure I would have been pissed but I would have listened to you."

"Thalia, I was a coward. I thought that once you found out what I did, you'd hate me and I didn't want to see the look of hatred you get when you look at your father directed at me." Annabeth spoke up, much to Thalia's annoyance but Annabeth didn't care. She needed to know that her friend didn't need to feel hurt because of her stupid mistake. "I wanted to come to you so badly but I was scared of losing someone else I cared about to."

"I know. Over time, I kind of came to that realisation but it still hurt." Thalia reached out and wrapped an arm loosely around her friends shoulder's, "I've forgiven you for not coming to me but its going to take me sometime to forgive you for what you did to Percy."

"I know." Annabeth said softly as Thalia pulled her into her side.

There was a pregnant pause before Thalia spoke up again, "I heard you met Red upon your arrival" She said with a smirk as Annabeth chuckled.

"Yes, I had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting that red headed nightmare. Did Percy tell you what she said to me?" Annabeth asked curiously as she turned and looked at Thalia who chuckled.

"Yep. I hope you put her in her place. That bitch is a slut in my opinion." Thalia said with an eye which earned a slap on the shoulder from Annabeth.

"Dont say that, even if she is one." The two smiled at each other, things seeming more comfortable instead of tense like it was in the beginning. "She tried to tell me Percy was hers even though she's engaged you know."

Thalia's eyes widened comically, "You seriously aren't shitting me right now are you?" Annabeth shook her head.

"Nope, it gets even better. I got back to work today and was put on this big project and guess who is the requested designer by the customer." Annabeth laughed at the expression on Thalia's face.

"You have got to work with that red curly haired bitch?!" Thalia gasp, shouted much to Annabeth's amusement.

"Yep," she said making a pop with the 'p', amusement on her face as she looked at Thalia's shocked expression.

"Gods I feel sorry for you but please tell me you got to see the look on her face when she was told you would be working with her." Thalia begged, a smile on her face when she saw the look in Annabeth's eye that told her the answer to her question.

"Minerva introduced me as the best designer in all of the firms. Rachel looked like she had just seen the birthing video from health class." Annabeth chuckled to herself, they sounded like two teenage girls gossiping right now. Thalia had just burst out laughing after . "You know that most people in the building referred to her as the Red-Headed Nightmare?" Annabeth added and Thalia looked like she was about to cry as she laughed.

"My god that expression on her face must have been priceless." Thalia laughed as she pulled Annabeth into a right hug, smiling as her best friend laughed with her. "I really missed listening to your work gossip."

"I missed you, Thals." Annabeth confessed with a soft smile on her face as she hugged her friend a little tighter.

"I missed you too, Annie." Thalia said with a smirk, knowing how much that nickname pissed the blonde off greatly. Annabeth frowned but decided to let it slide since she had only just gotten back part of the way into her friend's good graces and she didn't want to do or say anything that might jeopardize it. "I swear that if you ever run away again I will hunt you down, and when I catch you I will beat the living shit out of you before I bring you back and chain you up in my basement."

Annabeth knew that by Thalia's tone that she spoke in that she one hundred percent meant what she said. "I swear on the Styx." Annabeth promised, using their most powerful version of a pinkie swear she had in her arsenal. Saying that phrase basically said that she meant business and that is was a promise that she wasn't going to break.

"Hey, soul sister, pulling out the big guns aren't we?" Thalia chuckled as Annabeth smiled as she pulled away and ruffled Annabeth's hair in a friendly manor.

"Hey, I don't want to miss a single thing you do, let alone to night." Annabeth said as she stood up and offered her hand out to Thalia. "I don't know about you but I have a hankering for beer and pizza."

"Now you're talking." Thalia said with a grin as she and Annabeth headed out the room with smiles on their faces. The minute they entered the kitchen there was an immediate silence considering both Percy and Nico looked at them the minute they entered the room.

"Everything alright?" Percy asked in a concerned manor, looking at Annabeth more so than Thalia. Annabeth could tell that by Percy's expression that he had tried to keep Thalia out but had been unsuccessful but Annabeth gave him a reassuring smile as she made her way to the fridge and pulled out two beers and proceeded to removed the lids.

"We're good, right Thals?" Annabeth asked as she looked at the woman who had a complete obsession with black who had a cheeky grin on her face.

"Dont worry, Perce. I didn't do anything to her. We have sorted through things and we're good." Thalia said as she grabbed her beer that Annabeth had offered out for her and took a swig. "Now please can we watch the Shinning and eat Pizza cause if I don't eat now, I'm gonna eat the couch." Thalia threatened as Annabeth groaned.

"Seriously, the Shining?" Annabeth groaned in annoyance. "You know how much I hate that movie."

Thalia had an evil look in her eye as she smiled evilly, "I know. That's why I chose it." Thalia said before she cackled maniacally before she plopped down on the couch, and started feasting on pizza and beer.

Annabeth sighed as she looked at Nico who was watching her closely, as if looking into her soul. He was surveying her, taking in her body language, her expression, her appearance, every single detail. "Annabeth." He said coolly as he tucked his hands in the pockets of his denim jeans with his black shirt. He and Thalia had similar tastes which is why they were perfect for each other.

"Hello Nico." Annabeth answered shyly as she sipped her beer, Nico's eyes still on her.

"You don't have anything to worry about Annabeth. If Thalia has forgiven you, then you have mine." He said with a firm look on his face. The man never really smiled, it was a rarity to see him crack a smile. He grabbed his beer and started his way to his girlfriend before he stopped and spoke up, "Just know, if you ever do what you did to Thalia ever again, Thalia wont be the one you have to worry about coming to find you." He warned.

Annabeth visibly paled as Nico cracked a smirk, knowing how to get under her skin before he walked over and sat next to Thalia with an arm around her shoulders. Percy came up next to Annabeth and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, which caused her to look up at him and meet his gaze.

His green eyes were deep in color, assurance flooding them as his voice spoke up, "Are you alright, Annabeth?"

"Yeah-" Annabeth answered with a heavy sigh, "I just never expected some of the things Thalia admitted to me." Percy frowned which caused Annabeth to smile slightly. Percy was always o caring and overly protective so this just assured her that he still cared about her. "Don't worry about it, Percy. I know I have a lot of work to do to earn people's trust and friendship back, and I just want you to know that I am grateful to you for giving me another chance." She said as she pressed a feather kiss against his cheek.

Percy smiled bashfully as he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, a clear blush forming on his cheeks. "Well all that time you were gone I realized just how much I wanted you hear. It killed me not having my best friend around."

"Killed me to." Annabeth admitted softly as she reached over and took Percy's hand in hers and rubbed the back of it with her thumb, "I respect your wish to start slow Percy and I believe its what we need. I missed being with my best friend and I am glad we get to be friends again."

"Me too." Percy smiled as their gazes locked. There was a thick silence between them as they stared into each other's eyes, green onto grey, every emotion they were experiencing was visible in each other's eyes. There was hope for them. This was the best thing for them. Being friends allowed Annabeth to regain Percy's trust again, it gave them a chance to rediscover the love that had grown between them and Annabeth was actually grateful for that.

It was a start and Annabeth was ready to start from the beginning again.

"Are you two love birds or are ya gonna come and watch the movie with us now?!" Thalia called out, causing the two to break their intense gaze with clear blushes on their cheeks.

"You go and sit Percy and I'll grab the popcorn from the microwave." Annabeth offered as she looked on the microwave clock and saw that the timer had a minute left.

"Alright." Percy said as he grabbed his beer and headed to the lounge and claimed the middle spot of the triple seating couch which was what he usually preferred since he liked to stretch out on the couch a lot of the time. Annabeth pulled out two popcorn bowls and carefully picked up the piping hot bag of popcorn out from the microwave when the timer finished and poured them into the two bowls.

Carefully balancing the bowls she carried them to the lounge along with her beer in the other hand and plopped down on the left hand side of the couch as Percy grabbed one of the bowls and passed it to Nico. Everything seemed so natural as Annabeth by old habit picked up a pillow and placed it in her lap and Percy as if moving without processing anything lay down with his head on the pillow and feet on the couch and waited for Thalia to start the movie.

Nico and Thalia shared a look, Thalia had a smile on her face when she saw the interaction, she had her doubts but she could see that Percy had truly missed Annabeth and that Annabeth had missed Percy too. She smiled as she pressed play and started the movie.

Annabeth shrunk back down into the seat as the opening credits began and upon reaction Percy reached up and took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. It was going to be a long night and a very long time before the two realized that they had been acting like they were when they were together.

* * *

 _Well that was fun to write. Now I know a lot of you might think that Thalia was too forgiving but I have done it this way for a reason. I'm not going to reveal anything as of yet but you are just going to have to wait and see. I hope you all liked this chapter, it was fun to write for me. See you all next time._


	10. Begin Again

_Hey everyone, so big news, we are over 300 reviews, seriously guys, 320 reviews, you are just awesome and I am so thrilled about it. As you can see, since you guys asked so nicely, I updated early. It was a hard thing to pull off since my school schedule is different to you guys in America, but I did it. Hope you enjoy this chapter which is inspired by Begin Again by Taylor Swift._

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It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

It was nearing lunch on Wednesday. It had only been almost two days since the movie night with Thalia and Nico and she honest to the gods wanted to throttle that blue eyed woman.

Annabeth was still in shock that Thalia never said anything about how comfy and cozy Annabeth and Percy were on the couch during the movie. It honestly hadn't registered in her mind at the position the two took on the couch until further on in the movie. It took Percy a lot longer to register the intimately close comfort and proximity between the two but through most of the movie Annabeth was blushing, thoughts racing through her mind.

She was seated at her desk, surfing through the files on her computer for that one special project she hadn't forgotten about. The whole thing with the movie night left her hopeful and full of possibilities about what the future might be like if the two ever got back together.

She smiled when she found the file, it was the digital design of her and Percy's dream house, she couldn't help but smile at how she had created the design in a three D image to view it from all angles, smiling as she thought about life with Percy in each of those rooms. She couldn't help but smile to herself, it would be incredible to wake up to Percy's beautiful face every morning, to laugh and chat in the kitchen, to lie on the couch watching movies, playing in the garden with their children...

She sighed sadly, running her hand over her face, guilt hitting her with a wave of nausea to accompany it. She felt sick to her stomach just thinking about how they should have already been like this, happy, with a family already but they weren't and it was Annabeth's fault. It was one of the biggest mistakes of her life, she had never regretted anything so much in her life but she deserved to feel this way because she caused both of their hearts heartache like nothing before.

She knew that no one was to blame but herself. Percy may have left but he came back, he had every right to walk away, he had every right to be hurt by her unfaithfulness, he had every right to walk away from them. She could never blame him for that, she couldn't blame him at all. They both had stressful jobs, they were both stressed, fighting constantly over petty little things like groceries and coming home from work late.

They aggravated each other, pushed each other's buttons to the point where they couldn't stand to be in each other's presence, it was awful and Annabeth hated it. It didn't justify her going out on dates with another man behind Percy's back, hugging and holding hands... kissing; none of that should have ever happened. She wasn't justified in doing it and she was never going to forgive herself for doing it.

The sound of her telephone ringing brought Annabeth out of her guilty thoughts and reached out and picked up her phone and looked at the screen, a instant smile gracing her face when she saw the caller ID.

 _Percy,_ she thought with a smile as she slide her finger against the clean screen to answer the call and raised the phone to her ear, the smile to ever present as she greeted Percy, "Hey you. Didn't think I'd be receiving a call from you so early."

Annabeth practically felt her heart sing when she heard his beautiful laugh, if she could she would record it and set it as her ring tone because it was her favourite thing to hear apart from Percy's voice, _"Well, I was wondering if you were free?"_ Percy chuckled through the line, his voice sounding deep with such a velvety quality it made chills run down Annabeth's spine.

"I might be," She said as she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and bit it nervously, she felt like a teenage girl right now. "Why do you ask?" She asked with a genuinely curious tone as she twirled her pencil between her fingers.

" _Good, I'm gonna take you for lunch. Come downstairs. I'm waiting for you."_ Annabeth's eyes widened when she heard the call end, Percy hadn't even given her a chance to say yes or no, no that she would or could've said no to him since he is already waiting for her.

"Looks like I am going to lunch." She mumbled to herself as she closed her programs on her computer and packed her phone and Ipad in her bag and made sure she looked presentable. She smoothed out her skirt and neatened the collar of her blouse. She made sure to lock her office door behind her head as she headed downstairs.

As she stood waiting for the elevator, a familiar face appeared next to her. "Hey, Annabeth. You look like you are going out?" Piper said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she held a file, cradling it almost like a baby in her arms.

"Percy called and asked if I was free and when I said yes, he ended up saying he was taking me to lunch and that he was already waiting for me downstairs." Annabeth explained, noticing the bright grin on Piper's face. "He didn't even let me answer." Piper chuckled.

"A man who can take charge. You likey don't you?" Piper teased as they stepped into the vacant elevator, hitting the lobby button.

Annabeth just shock her head at her friend, Piper had a very naughty mind sometimes. "You are terrible Piper." Annabeth said as she rolled her eyes at Piper who just continued to have that cheeky grin on her face.

"You aren't denying it's true?" Piper smirked knowingly when Annabeth rolled her eyes but smiled brightly.

"I always liked him taking charge and its not like I can say no to the man since he is waiting downstairs for me already." Annabeth said with her cheeks slightly tinged with pink. The thing about Percy is he was tentative, caring, sweet, lovable and considerate but he was shy thought out a lot of points in their friendship and relationship but sometimes he got these bursts of confidence and she loved it when it happened.

Annabeth and Percy weren't intimate in the sense of having sex, they in all honesty were waiting until they were married but sometimes they got very caught in the moment, and that is when Percy got confident. He always shy when it came to their making out sessions but he'd sometimes move and would find that sensitive spot in the juncture of her neck that made her moan and that got him going.

"Oh my god Annabeth!" Piper interrupted Annabeth's hot thoughts about Percy and his confident moments and stared wide eyed in front of her. She looked at piper who was smiling but still had shock in her eyes. "You were thinking about him weren't you?"

"No," Annabeth answered immediately as she felt the already present heat on her cheeks growing hotter by the second.

"Oh my god you are blushing so hard. You were thinking about him." Annabeth just blushed deeper, she hated how just merely thinking about Percy made her flushed and hot. "Okay, I am not going to tease you since you need to control that blush since he's going to see you." Piper said as she waved the file, creating a cool breeze on Annabeth to cool her down whilst Annabeth took deep breaths.

Thank the lord by the time the elevator reached the lobby she had calmed down the rhubarb red blush on her face. Piper smiled and gave her an encouraging smile and a thumbs up to her friend. Annabeth nodded as she exited the building and saw that Percy's car was here like he had said, parked with the man himself in it.

 _Okay Annabeth, you can do this,_ she thought as she took a deep breath and smiled at Percy who waved at her. She walked towards the vehicle and opened the door and climbed in, getting comfortable, remembering to put on her seatbelt as she grinned at Percy. "Hey Percy." She greeted.

"Hi." He said with a smile as he put the car into gear and pulled out the parking and into traffic.

"So where are you taking me since you decided to kidnap me?" Annabeth inquired cheekily in a playful way which caused Percy to smirk at her.

"I am kidnapping you to take you to a lunch because I thought we could starting hanging out like we used to." Percy answered simply, a smile still present on his face when he spoke.

Annabeth smiled sadly, if there was one thing she missed, it was hanging out with Percy during their lunch hours. Before all the hectic stuff started happening, they'd either go out for lunch or one of them would pop in with sandwiches or something and they'd have lunch at one another's work. It was so much fun and it they loved doing it and Annabeth had missed seeing him.

It was only a five minute drive to what was their usual place they went to all that time ago, it looked different but still the same. The vibe of the Olive Garden Cafe was still a little bubble of peace and quiet in the busy city life of New York. They had already found a table inside by a window that looked out into the small garden they had.

"I see they did some redecorating." Annabeth noted as they took their seats, smiling as they got a complimentary glass of raspberry lemonade.

"Yeah, the original owner passed so his daughter took over and decided to give the place an overhaul and this was the result." Percy answered as he took a sip of his lemonade, obviously enjoying it by the grin on his face.

"it's lovely." Annabeth answered as she took a drink of her own, loving the contrast of the sweet raspberry to the sour lemon on her taste buds. "Has anything on the menu changed?" Annabeth enquired as she picked up the menu that was in front of her.

"Nope, still the same stuff is on here plus a few more." Percy said with a knowing smile as Annabeth raised a questioning eyebrow. "Yes Annabeth, they still have you favourite." At that Annabeth grinned brightly, she was excited now but there was something still lingering in the back of her mind, questioning Percy's motive as to why he wanted to come here.

Percy had noticed the look in her eye and put the menu down and sighed, "I take it you are curious as to why I brought us here?" Percy asked softly, Annabeth giving a single nod. "I have been thinking about what happened during the movie night-" Annabeth felt her cheeks tinge with a slight blush of pink as she nervously bit her lip, "and I think we need to talk about it... and us."

That one word perked Annabeth's ears, _us_ , a word that she had to hear from the sense. She wanted to know if there would be an _us_ to them, if there would be something between them again.

"Percy, I know you want to take things slow and I want to too. Don't pressure your-"

"Let me speak." Percy said softly, raising his hand, effectively cutting Annabeth off. "I know that after what happened, I've been acting standoffish and distant," which was true, he had been distant, "and its because what happened, I missed that. I missed being that close and comfortable with you. I missed being with you like that and I just needed time to process my thoughts."

Annabeth smiled sadly, "I know. If I had of known what happened, I would have stopped it sooner." Annabeth said softly as she reached out and put her hand on top of Percy's causing them to meet gazes. "I didn't mean to confuse you in any way. I respect your choice in wanting to take things slow and just start off as friends because I thinks its what we need."

"But what if I want to be more than friends." Percy answered, Annabeth's body freezing as her eyes widened in shock.

"W-what?" Annabeth stuttered softly, completely taken back what Percy had said. It had been only just a few days since he said that he wanted to be just friends for now and now here he was saying he wanted to be more.

"I know that I am contradicting what I said that day but I cant help it." Percy breathed out softly. "Being in the same place and not being able to hold you the way I used too hurts and it makes me feel empty inside." Percy confessed as he turned his hand out from Annabeth's and slotted his fingers in between hers and smiled. "I am saying this now because I want you to know that I don't want anyone else. I want to work out things between us."

Annabeth was just in complete shock by Percy's confession. He had answered the question that burned in the back of her mind. He still wanted her, he wanted to be with him which is more than she could have asked for.

"I do too Percy." She answered softly as she smiled softly.

"I still need time to learn to trust you again," Annabeth nodded in understanding, "but I do want what we had again. I want to try it again with you, Annabeth." She could see the uncertainty in his eyes, she knew why it was there and she needed to sooth it.

"We'll take things as slow as you need, Percy." Annabeth whispered with a genuinely happy, reassuring smile on her face. "I have no intention of rushing things. I know I hurt you and I have no excuses for it but I am sorry for letting it happen and I promise you that you have always been the one that I wanted." Percy smiled with the same lop sided smile that Annabeth knew and loved.

"I have the intention of eventually taking you out on a date but for now, can we enjoy the wonderful experience of being best friends again." He said, throwing his head back and letting out an amused chuckle to which Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"You're such a Seaweed Brain." She said as she sipped her lemonade, the fact registering in her mind at what she had said. She hadn't used his old nickname in such a long time but it just felt so natural and judging by the smile on Percy's face, it seems that he didn't mind the use of the name whatsoever.

Percy grinned his lop sided smile, "Missed ya Wise Girl." Percy said playfully which caused Annabeth to smile.

"Don't you forget it," She said in reference to her nickname with a smirk as Percy laughed. Gods she had missed this, is felt so much more comfortable since they had walked in and she was very much a thousand times happier that they were taking steps forward to being back how they once were.

It almost seemed that what was in the past is the past and remain that way because everything seemed to be beginning again. Things were slowly starting over for them, slowly but surely they were making their way back towards the happiness they had before everything happened between them.

"Now, you said that they still have my favourite. Did you mean the French dip sandwich or the cheesecake?" Annabeth asked as she started looking at the menu, her mouth practically watering as her stomach growled, causing her to blush brightly because Percy heard it.

"Both and you can order both if you want since I'm paying." Percy said with smile. Annabeth just wanted to lean over an plant a kiss on Percy right in that very moment at how sweet he was being.

"Thank you Percy." She said when she noticed that their hands were still linked by the finger, a blush forming on both their cheeks when Percy too realised that they were still connected by their fingers. They hadn't even realised that their fingers for still slotted together, it just felt so natural and comfortable that neither took any notice of it. They separated reluctantly, annabeht biting her bottom lip, "Sorry." She apologized as she drunk some more of her lemonade.

"Its alright." Percy said as he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck as he diverted his eyes, "You know you still look cute when you blush." He mumbled softly which caused Annabeth to blush even brighter.

"So do you." She replied back, they had always teased each other about one or both of them blushing but the light dusting on Percy's cheeks was a delicate and subtle feature to his sculpted face that made him look more human than the god she was sure he was. As they sat there in silence, they both had smiles on their faces, knowing that they were getting somewhere with their relationship.

Things were better between them, you could see it even if they were shy and blushing like they were on their first date as teenagers. The way they acted, you'd think they were only just confessing their like for one another for the first time. It was innocently sweet and Annabeth was grateful for this time with him. it meant that they were getting somewhere which is what she wanted.

Little did she know that someone familiar was seated a few tables away but not in Annabeth's sight line, watching her with a curious longing gaze. The man's features were tight, his jaw tense, blue eyes narrowed and filled with jealousy and anger.

* * *

 _Well everyone, surprise. I got you chapter ten in a new record time. Took a lot out of me to get it done but I am glad I was able to get it done for you all. Thank you all so much for the amazing reviews, so glad that you are all enjoying my story and I am looking forward to the next chapter. He he he, its going to be an interesting one. See you all soon, I'll see if I can update early again, no promises._


	11. Let It Go

_Hey everyone, first off, I wanna apologize to all those who thought that the previous post was a chapter. I got a lot of PM's about it and I apologize to the guest who reviewed. I just felt that I needed to let you know what was going on so you all didn't think that I was abandoning this story which I am not. So I sincerely apologize for that, I never meant to upset anyone. It was never my intention so I am sorry everyone. As I said in the Author's note, I have a lot on my plate and inspiration really has been lacking a lot and I got major writers block. With this update, it doesn't mean it's broken, I know where I want to go with this story, I just don't know how to proceed but this chapter is a start so you can thank a little girl I met in the hospital where I go for treatment (for my illness I am suffering with at the moment) in the cancer ward named Sky and she absolutely loves and adores the song that inspired me with a title and eventually I found the song. They have the same title so this is inspired by Let It Go by James Bay but the title I originally got from Frozen's Let It Go, So enjoy._

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It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

Annabeth had been dreading this meeting all week.

She had done the unthinkable when it came to this meeting.

She had welcomed the red-headed monster into her home, her safe haven this fine Saturday afternoon to discuss the terms of the design and interior design of the hotel but the whole meeting was to discuss what the two gentlemen that requested their services wanted done in their hotel.

Annabeth had offered for the red-headed she devil to come to her office the day before to discuss all the requests and specifications but Rachel declined and said that she would come over the next morning since she knew where Annabeth lived, more specifically where Percy lived.

Annabeth knew the minute that Rachel said that, the sole purpose was for the she-devil to stir up the jealousy pot within Annabeth and get under her nerves in this battle to gain Percy's love and attention but that's the thing. Annabeth had already won the game since she and Percy knew where they stood and knew what they wanted and how they wanted to proceed with their relationship.

For now they were friends and that is more than Annabeth could have asked for in the time that she had been back in their home. She still reminisced a lot on the past, remembering how every day of them together, remembering how every morning began and how every day had ended although, nothing was the same a lot of the time, but even so, even memory they shared was a memory she always remembered.

he could still remember that dimpled smile on his face every time she told him how much she loved and adored his French toast each time he made it. She could remember him waking up each morning, coming into the kitchen with his hair sticking out left and right, looking like the walking dead until he poured himself a cup of coffee and then woke up to being the bubbly, lovable smiling fool he was when he saw her.

Annabeth was thankful that Percy had decided to go out to the aquarium today, it meant that she could get through this meeting with Rachel without having a pissing contest each time Percy turned his back. It also meant that this might go a whole lot quicker so she can get ready to enjoy movie night with Percy tonight since they started up their Saturday tradition of having Sci-fi Saturday where they watched, you guessed it, a Science fiction movie of one of the party's choice.

Percy got first pick tonight and Annabeth was in charge of food so she was going all out with popcorn, chicken bucket, Buffalo wings, chips and cola of course. Things like this was always big in their apartment and a lot of the time before everything happened, Annabeth and Percy always had a whole lot of their friends over but she always enjoyed the times when they did it together and enjoyed the time they shared.

Annabeth's snack planning was interrupted by an incessant knocking; causing her to roll her eyes and grit her teeth knowing exactly who it was. Annabeth decided that her usual sarcastic self she had acquired since meeting Rachel Elizabeth Dare would come in handy as she made her way to the door. She was dressed in a pair of black spandex work out shorts that reached mid thigh and a black sports bra, her hair pulled back into a tight high ponytail since she and Percy had gone for a run together today with a pair of black trainers.

She smiled as she pulled the door open and was met by the bubbly looking Rachel Elizabeth Dare dressed like she was going to be going to work with a short pencil skirt, tight blouse and high heels but even in those heels she was still shorter than Annabeth. "Hello Rachel. Good to see you." She said in an overly enthusiastic voice just to rile the red head up.

Rachel's face fell when she saw it was Annabeth, almost doing a double take on Annabeth's appearance but shook it off in case Percy was around. "Nice to see you too, Annabeth."

"Please, come in." Annabeth said with a face welcoming smile, really wishing that she didn't have to allow the woman entrance into her home and let it get defiled by the monster's awful scented perfume that smelt like overly ripe strawberries. If anything, Percy preferred blueberries and that wasn't just because of the name of the fruit.

Rachel tried to keep the smile on her face as she walked into the apartment, Annabeth closing the door behind her as Annabeth watched, completely amused that Rachel was searching around with a hopeful smile on her face, obviously hoping to see Percy.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Rachel but Percy had work today so he isn't here." Annabeth informed Rachel as she went over to the counter and picked up her cup of coffee she had made just before Rachel knocked. "Would you like some coffee or something else to drink?" Annabeth offered, trying to remain stoic and professional since this was supposed to be a professional meeting.

"Please don't act like you want me here. Its annoying when you act so high and mighty, like you are above me." Rachel bit back, casuing Annabeth to frown and place her coffee down. Looks like this wasn't going to get professional with Rachel's attitude.

"you're right. I don't want you and your stupid ass waltzing into my home and acting oh so innocent in front of Percy when in truth you are just a slut." Annabeth retorted, her voice seeping with venom as she stood in front of Rachel with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh please," Rachel said with an eye roll. "Don't you dare act like you are any better than me. You're the one that cheated on him and ran away like a coward." Rachel gritted, jabbing her finger into Annabeth's shoulder, Annabeth's gaze hardening at the accusation that was thrown her way. It hurt hearing that comment, it really did but she knew that it was true.

"You and I are no different, the only thing I can say about you is that you haven't made the same mistake I did yet." Annabeth confessed softly, speaking the truth. She honestly didn't like Rachel but she didn't hate her. She hated that Rachel was making the same mistake that she was. She was letting a stupid sexual attraction get the better of her, causing her to forget about the person that she was madly in love with.

Rachel frowned as she crossed her arms, looking at Annabeth with an almost confused expression. "Care to elaborate." She sort of demanded, unsure if she really wanted to know what Annabeth was talking about.

"I made a mistake when I cheated on Percy. I never regretted anything so much in my life." Annabeth said softly as she walked round the kitchen counter and pulled out a bottle of red wine from the cabinet and two glasses. As she poured herself a glass, she continued to speak, "Percy and I, we had reached a complicated point in our relationship. We were fighting, we weren't communicating at all and we used work to distance ourselves from each other in hopes of not fighting."

Remembering those fights was something Annabeth wished that she didn't have to but she did. Guilt had bubbled within her for a very long time, it was something that she wished she had never done but there was no changing what she did. There was no rewinding the clock, going back in time and redoing everything that happened in hopes that by now they would be married with a beautiful home and even a child. Her mistake cost her that and she had to live with it.

"I met Luke Castellan, you fiancé's half brother at work." Rachel was definitely shocked by the admission from Annabeth, her eyes were wide as she continued to speak. "It started off friendly, we'd meet for lunch and then he kissed me. Of course I pushed him away and told him that I had a boyfriend but he said he didn't care and that he wanted a chance and I told him that I couldn't see him again."

Annabeth sighed as she took a sip of her wine, needing the slight warmth that the alcohol provided to help her continue and divulge her deepest darkest secrets to someone who wanted the man she still loved with everything in her. "What, what happened after that?" Rachel inquired curiously with a pause as she poured herself a glass of wine and took a seat on one of the stools and listened to Annabeth speak.

"Percy and I, we were already arguing a lot and it was our planned date night but it was more important because it was our anniversary. I was at the restaurant at six like we planned... but he never showed." That was a painful thing for her to remember, especially the fight that they had that night when he came home. "I sat there until the waiter told me that it was closing time and I got home, he wasn't there. I sat awake and waited and he didn't show until two in the morning."

"I take it that things went downhill from there." Annabeth was surprised that Rachel was so opened minded when it came to listening to her story and she was grateful for it.

"yeah," Annabeth answered softly as she looked down at her glass of wine. "We fought for hours. When he finally said he couldn't do this anymore it was nine in the morning and he ran to work and I called Luke and ran right into his arms, seeking comfort, seeking the love I thought Percy no longer had for me. The more Percy distanced himself from me the more I turned to Luke." By this point, Annabeth was almost choking on her words remembered it.

"Wow, I never knew..." Rachel confessed in a soft voice. "I-I always thought that you were the guilty party in it all when Percy told me. I mean he said so many timeshe blamed himself for letting you go but I always thought it was your fault."

"it was mine." Annabeth said as she took a drink of her wine, a deep sadness brewing inside herself as she remembered everything, "instead of fighting for him, instead of fighting with him, I ran away and stayed in the arms of another man stead of being with the amazing man I had and I will never forgive myself for that." Annabeth decided that she needed to go deeper, to explain more to Rachel when her eyes wandered and landed on the simple princess cut diamond ring that adorned Rachel's wedding finger.

She reached inside her bra and pulled out the remainder of the chain around her neck, showing the ring to Rachel whose eyes had widened at this point.

"This was the engagement ring he'd gotten me. The fighting had delayed his plans on proposing and when Christmas Eve came, he'd phoned and said that he would be working late and I got upset and said I was done and I ended the call. I went to lunch with Luke when Percy came to the office to ask me to lunch to try and fix things and he found out about Luke."

"I remember Percy telling me that." Rachel confessed. "I guess I should apologize for being a real bitch to you without knowing both sides of the story."

"it's alright. I kind of deserved to feel like my relationship with him is threatened because it just makes me want to fight for him harder." Annabeth said with a smile, a genuine one. "Listen, I don't know about what's going on with you and your fiancé but don't let sexual attraction cost you something amazing."

Rachel let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not going to lie; I like Percy, as in really like him. Who wouldn't want a man like him. He's sweet, tender, caring, and have you seen the man. He's sexier than Chris Hemsworth and that man if a god." Rachel said with a chuckle, causing Annabeth to smile at her witty banter. "Seriously though, its really more of a sexual attraction as you say. As much as I want to be Percy's number one, I love my fiancé and I really was acting like a total slut. Talk about being possessive over something that isn't yours huh."

Annabeth nodded in understanding. "It's alright Rachel. Trust me, he wasn't even mine yet again and I was fighting you for him like he was still mine." Annabeth said with a blush, the two smiling at each other. "I shouldn't have been so quick to judge you Rachel."

"Well the same can be said about me." Rachel said with a heavy sigh. "I guess we both have some things we need to let go of, don't we."

"how about this," Annabeth said softly as she rounded the island and hopped onto it, her glass of wine still in had. "Why don't you be and I'll be me? Let's not hide ourselves by having petty fights. We both have people we love dearly so instead of letting all these delusions in our heads bring us to our knees."

Rachel smiled, "Can I confess something though."

"The floor is yours." Annabeth said softly as she took a sip of her wine and listened openly.

"Before you came and opened my eyes, I used to recognize myself every time I stared at my reflection in the mirror but then I saw how happy Percy was and I saw someone I wasn't in the mirror." Rachel said softly, "I was a whole different person, so focused on having Percy all to myself and in turn it made me forget all about the amazing man in my life. I feel so guilty about it."

"we started off bitter enemies but now we have to let it go, let it be and just be ourselves. We need to stop holding onto something we don't need. Everything that's broke we have to leave it to the breeze, forget about it and let it float away." Annabeth said, a calculating expression on her face as she put her wine glass down and grabbed Rachel's hand. "Come with me."

"What are we doing?" Rachel asked as she willingly let Annabeth lead her to the door which Annabeth opened.

"I want you to stand out here and knock on the door after five seconds." Annabeth asked as she placed Rachel outside the door, a calm smile on her face. "Can you do that for me."

Rachel was confused but gave a nod and Annabeth smiled as she closed the door behind her and mentally counted to five before Rachel rasped on the door. Annabeth smiled as she opened the, this time her smile was warm and friendly and inviting.

"Hello. I don't believe we've met. I'm Annabeth Chase." Annabeth said with a grin, which grew when Rachel caught on and smiled as she took Annabeth's offered hand and gave it a shook.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I'm a friend of Percy's." Rachel said, as the two shook hands.

"Well Percy isn't home at the moment. If you want, you are welcome to come in and have a glass of wine." Annabeth offered, knowing that they were giving each other a fresh start to try and be friends. All pettiness and anger was gone between the two as Annabeth re-welcomed Rachel into the apartment. Sure they had a long way to go when it comes to becoming friends but for now, this was a start in the right direction.

She was going to follow her own advice, she was going to let the past go, learn from her mistakes and show that Percy that he didn't make a mistake in giving her a second chance. She as starting afresh, slowly but surely forgiving herself and slowly but surely earning back Percy's trust and his love.

* * *

 _Well as you can see, it's not as long as the other chapters which I apologize for but it's an update that had great importance in the story line so I hope it was worthy of approval. Your support means a lot to me and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. No guarantee when this chapter will be updated but just bare with me. Thank you everyone, let me know what you thought and if you have any song suggestions, PM me or put them in a review cause you never know. The song you put down might just light a fire up my ass and re-ignite my very much creative brain and bring me out of my stump. Thanks everyone, see you when I see you._

 _P.S - for those who reviewed, I am unsure of how to take down account reviews so i apologize about that as well. See you when i see you everyone._


	12. Mine

_Hey everyone, got some inspiration from two songs this time, the main one is what gave this chapter it's title. It's entitled Mine by Phoebe Ryan, beautiful song, it really is and fits the storyline so bloody freakin perfectly but I had gotten the inspiration as well to describe Percy's character in this chapter from a wicked song that I'm gonna leave you guys to guess and try figure out what it is. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter everyone._

* * *

It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

It had been a little under a week since Annabeth and Rachel had been honest with each other and sorted out their heads and Annabeth had to say that their friendship was honestly blooming beautifully. It was what their slowly blooming friendship that had both of them decide that they were going to go out for drinks on Friday Night.

Thalia and Nico had been invited along with Rachel's fiancé Octavian and Percy was coming of course and they were all going to meet there. Annabeth was just about finished getting ready, and was finishing up her make-up and hair since it had been a long time since she had gone out and had some fun for once.

She was wearing a pair of dark denim boot cut jeans that could be considered skinny jeans with the way they hugged her long legs, making them look as sexy as hell. She had on a pair black open toed heels with an ankle strap to secure them that gave her a little more height, accentuating her legs and outfit even more.

To go with it she had a white high waisted white crop top that had a sweet heart neckline and no straps on her shoulders and with it, she wore a black leather jacket that just gave her a whole another level or ten on the sexy scale and it was a suited accompaniment to go with her slightly curled blond hair that she left down and left it naturally. Her make-up was all natural because she didn't like make-up really but tonight, she just felt like wearing a little.

When she was happy, she let out a little breath and exited the bathroom, making sure that she had her phone and wallet in his pockets as she exited her bedroom and headed to the kitchen where she found Percy standing there, dressed in a pair of jeans, sneakers, a plain white shirt and a blazer. Casual was always Percy's style and she really liked that.

"Took ya, long enough. Thals and RED are blowing up my phone, asking where the hell we are..." Percy kind of froze midway through his word because he had turned round and his jaw had practically dropped to the floor because his eyes landed on Annabeth.

Annabeth couldn't help but giggle as she walked forward and cupped his chin and closed his mouth that was agape, smirking as she wiped the little bit of drool that was coming from the corner of his mouth, "It's rude to stare and drool, Seaweed Brain. Wouldnt want you to catch any flies." She said with a chuckle as she patted his cheek playfully. "Come one, let's go, don't want to be late."

She walked over to the door and opened it, waiting for Percy to follow her but his eyes followed her, his body clearly shocked from the sight of Annabeth but his eyes were filled with a strange predatory like quality that made him look a little hungry. Annabeth had to fight the blush on her cheeks, sure she had been confident moments ago but when Percy looked at her like that, it left this wanton feeling inside her, the last time Percy looked at her like that was when a dude blatantly flirted with her in front of Percy.

"You coming?" She asked with a gulp, suddenly feeling her cheeks heating up as she watched his green eyes darken with that same look which in all honesty confused her. She didn't know why he was looking at her like that.

"Yeah," Percy said, looking away for a moment before grabbing his car keys and walking towards her. He took the door from her and held it open for her, his intense gaze meeting her own as she looked up into him, feeling almost timid and shy beneath his gaze. "Let's go." His voice was stoic which slightly worried Annabeth.

"Are you alright, Percy?" Annabeth asked softly, feeling timid and shy beneath the intense gaze. "We don't have to go if you want. We could stay here and go out another time, if you want." She suggested, her voice and tone uncertain if that is what he wanted to hear.

Percy shook his head and smiled a soft smile, "I'm alright. Just a little shocked to see you with make-up is all."

"You sure?" She asked again as she stepped outside, Percy following her, locking the door behind them as he gave a curt nod.

"yeah, no come, let's go before Thalia roasts me again for being late." Percy said as he offered her his elbow which Annabeth happily took as he led her to the elevator.

* * *

 **Club Mt Olympus**

This club was most certainly one of the most frequented clubs in all of Manhattan, probably in the whole of New York. You had to know people to get in and because of not only Rachel's status but her fiancé's, it was easy to get it. Annabeth felt a little sorry for the long queue that extended round the block, leading to the entrance of the club, a legit bouncer standing with a clipboard, looking ready to punch people's faces in.

"Name?" The big guy asked, he was burly, large and downright terrifying as Annabeth and Percy stood in front of him, having jumped the cue.

"We're with the party of Dare." Annabeth answered softly, a small smile appearing on her face, "Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson." She remembered that that is what Rachel had informed her to tell them when they arrived at the entrance.

"Welcome." The recently discovered Argus, his name was on his name tag, answered as he undid the clip that held the red rope and opened it, stepping to the side. "They're in the V.I.P wing, the host will take you to them." Percy and Annabeth nodded as they stepped past him towards the door, "Have a good evening."

The minute they stepped through the curtains, they were greeted by a real part of note. There was music pulsing through speakers, the sound reverberating and bouncing off the walls, deafening all chatter that people would have to shout to communicate with each other. Flashing lime lights rocked on, flashing in bright patterns that changed color with the music beat. The dance floor was full of people, all shapes and sizes, dancing and drinking without a care in the world.

It was exactly how Annabeth had remembered it to be.

As stated by Argus, the host, a woman who was dressed in a pantsuit, looking professional and yet deadly in her heels, with her hair pulled back into a tight bun, a head set on. "Evening, allow me to take you to your friends." She said in a deep voice, turning on her heel and already walking off.

Percy looked at Annabeth as she linked their arms again and followed her through the crowd. The woman was a raging banshee, shoving her way through the crowd of already intoxicated dancers that crowded the floor and making people feel her presence, she was a bouncer and maître d' combined into one package. Annabeth could see many guys giving her sideways glances as she walked past, not sure how to feel at the guys giving her hungry eyes.

She looked to Percy and saw he had a stoic expression on his face but she couldn't see his eyes because even in heels, he was still taller than her but she could tell by the slight tension in his arm that he was annoyed by something and Annabeth sadly had no idea what would be an annoyance to him. She just let it go and gave his hand a gentle squeeze, causing to look at her.

"I'm excited about hanging out with you and the others tonight." She said with a genuine smile, sparking up a conversation to distract him from whatever was bothering him.]

When Percy's smile appeared, she was honestly relieved as he grinned at her. "me too. I honestly haven't been out and had fun for a very long time. Never really wanted to go out because I didn't really feel like it." Annabeth nodded in understanding, back in California after she left, she never really ventured out, not once. It was all work, no play and a whole lot of brooding and loneliness on her side of the spectrum.

Before Annabeth could answer, she heard her name being called and instantly grinned when she saw Thalia and Nico seated with Rachel and the man who was obviously her fiancé, Octavian.

Thalia looked good in her ripped jeans and black tee, opting for a casual yet slightly seductive appeal to her tight skinny jeans that accentuated her ass, obviously much to Nico's disapproval cause one thing about Nico Di Angelo is he was possessive and didn't take kindly to others ogling over his girl who never took any notice of it. Nico was dressed similarly, black jeans and a white shirt with a black skull on the front.

Rachel looked completely the opposite of his she usually looked when it came to work, she had opted for a pair of ripped denim three quarter jeans and a frilly red blouse with her hair down and frizzed out but she looked really good. She grinned when she spotted Annabeth and immediately came over and gave Annabeth a big hug, much to Percy's surprise.

He was surprised when he came home to see Rachel and Annabeth chatting like they had been best friends for years instead of having just met and taking an instant disliking to each other. "Girl, you look smoking. Bet you had already got some eyes from a whole lot of these fine gentleman." Rachel yelled over the music, causing Annabeth to throw her head back and laugh.

Percy didn't look all to impressed by that comment as Annabeth answered, "RED, did you already forget you've got yourself a piece of ass that gave you that healthy sized rock that is on your finger." She answered with a cheeky grin as her gaze zeroed in on that gigantic princess cut diamond that adorned her fingers.

"Thank you for reminding her. I was getting tired of doing it and I'm her fiancé." Grumbled a new voice and it belonged to the blond hair man that wrapped his arm around Rachel's waist. She had seen said fiancé in multiple pictures and articles but seeing him up close and personal was certainly something to experience.

He was relatively skinny but not sickly kind of skinny and he had these crazed looking blue eyes and his skin was paler than Nico's and Nico always looked like he was fading or something. But the thing was he was near identical to Luke, from the way his hair was cut and shaped to the pointiness, he was a near carbon copy but he wasn't as handsome as Luke but he had his qualities that obviously made Rachel love him. He was dressed in Jeans and a purple shirt with this angry look on his face as his gaze met Percy's.

"Octavian, I'd like to introduce you to Annabeth." Rachel said with a grin as I smiled at Octavian but his gaze didn't leave Percy's, "And of course, you know Percy."

"Jackson." He acknowledged in a cold tone, his voice conveying an obvious dislike towards the dark haired man.

"Octavian." Percy said in an equally cold tone but it filled with a lot of annoyance in it. "Can we agree to be civil for the evening since it was the ladies who organized the evening."

"As long as you don't make a move on fiancée, then we will be just fine." Octavian growled, his voice hard and icy as he stepped closer to Percy, the two glaring each other down.

"I need a drink. Come on Tavy, lets go get something to drink." Rachel said calmly, defusing the situation by grabbing Octavian's hand and leading him away, causing Percy to growl.

"Percy, are you alright?" Annabeth asked timidly, her hand reaching out and touching his shoulder but Percy jerked away, causing Annabeth to gasp as he stormed off. Annabeth stood there frozen as she watched Percy walk to the bar and order himself a drink, sitting as far away from the others as humanly possible.

Annabeth wandered why those two seriously held a grudge against each other. Percy had told her nothing about him and Octavian and she was a little hurt and confused by his outburst and anger. She let out a dejected sigh as she made her way over to the others and sat down, gazing sadly at Percy who wouldn't even look their way. "Is everything alright between you two?" Thalia inquired curiously, glancing subtly at the pissed off man who was drinking a beer by himself.

"He and Octavian exchanged a few words and when I asked him if he was alright, he jerked away from me and just stormed off." Annabeth answered as Thalia set a glass of red wine in front of her best friend. "thank you, I think I'm gonna need this." Annabeth said, taking a drink of the red liquid. "Do you know why those two hate each other with a passion?"

"I wish I knew what Kelpy's problem was but I don't know what him and the piss biscuit over there have against each other, personally it ain't my business but I don't know what has crawled up those two's ass and died." Thalia answered as she took a swig of the beer that she had in hand. "He'll cool off, give him some time."

Annabeth sighed sadly, nodding at her friend's suggestion, "I hope so because I have really been looking forward to coming out with you guys all week."

"Don't worry, Annabeth. It's not the first time Percy and Octavian have brought hell to a casual event such as the one we're having now." Rachel interjected herself into the conversation, taking a seat next to Thalia as she drank a sip of her Bloody Mary she had ordered. "Octavian is crabby because of work and gets pissy all the time. He'll cool down and become more sociable once he's had a few drinks."

Annabeth nodded as felt slightly hot in this crowded, heated room, deciding to remove her leather jacket, fluffing out her curls and pulling out her hidden ring on it's chain that was tucked in her shirt. She held it in her hand, looking at it with a heavy sigh, her gaze flicking over to Percy who was glaring at his bottle of beer. He looked over at her but the minute their gazes met, he looked away, instantly making Annabeth feel hurt and heartache in that moment.

"Hey Annabeth, what is that ring exactly?" Nico asked curiously as he joined the group, bringing Annabeth out of her stare to focus back on the others.

Annabeth sighed, looking down at the simple, beautiful elegant ring, the ring that for her was a symbol of the past. "This is the ring that Percy was going to propose to me with before all the shit went down." Annabeth answered softly as she played with the ring. "guess you could say that I found gold in the wreckage, put it on a necklace and kept to remember how much I lost and could have had if I hadn't lost everything."

Annabeth felt like she was going to cry again, talking about the ring, it was sensitive subject matter for her but she honestly couldn't blame herself from feeling the guilt she was feeling right now.

"Why do you wear it on the necklace. I would have thought you would have chosen to take it off, when you and Percy started talking, move on from the past?" Nico said in a soft tone.

Annabeth hadn't looked up from the ring, a heavy sigh leaving her lips as she spoke, "Its a reminder of the past but its what keeps me hopeful that I can pull it together and fix things between Percy and I. I guess, I'm holding onto the broken pieces of my hearts debris in hopes that when I put it on properly, that everything is going to be okay." She said in a soft tone, glad that it wasn't too loud so that they could hear her because she didn't feel like yelling. "I wear it like a message so I don't forget it, keeping it cause I know that its mine and it shows that my heart will always belong to Percy no matter what happens."

The others were silent, Thalia especially. When Annabeth looked up, Thalia was looking down at her lap, a sad look in her eyes as Annabeth downed her glass of wine. "What are you guys anyway? Are you dating? Are you seeing other people? I mean, what's going on with you guys?" Nico inquired, causing Annabeth to look at Percy who was still hunched over, having another sip of his beer.

"I honestly don't know. He says he want to work things out with me, that he wants to be with me but every chance I try and ask what we are doing, he just clams up on me. I cant blame him, I fucked everything up, that doesn't mean I never stopped loving him." Annabeth admitted, it felt so good to finally say those words out loud because she had been keeping it in, trying no to blurt them out and make Percy uncomfortable but its not like wanted to hear them. "He said he doesn't know if he loves me anymore and I honestly love and miss him so much. I'd take being just friends but he pushes me away and it hurts."

Rachel looked over at Thalia who glanced at Percy and then back at RED. The two had come to a mutual agreement when they arrived to be on their best behavior and try to get along since Annabeth explained the whole situation to Thalia and how things were but Thalia never realized just how much the situation not only affected Percy but Annabeth as well. Before she had spoken with Annabeth, she would have turned round and said that Annabeth deserved to feel this way but now... she honestly felt bad for her best friends.

She knew how much they cared about each other but hearing Annabeth say that Percy didn't know if he loved her anymore, she had to feel sorry for her friend who looked about ready to cry in this moment as she tucked her ring back behind her top and took Thalia's nearly empty beer and finished it.

"No point in having a pity party. I'm here to have fun and I intend to, even if I'm hurting more than I did the day my mother died." Annabeth let out a chuckle as she stood up and breathed in. "I'm going to dance." Annabeth stated and before anyone could argue, she walked off and found herself in the middle of a crowd, shaking her body to the loud music without a care in the world.

In all honesty, she just wanted to forget for one night about all her problems, forget about all at overwhelming emotions she had been feeling for the last few weeks since she had arrived back, her head and heart hurting from it all. This was her time to just let go of all her cares in the world as she swayed her hips, tossed her hair and rocked her body to the music in the crowd.

As she moved with the music, she had multiple people come and dance with her, mimicking her movements or doing completely moves but they were all women and then a man approached her. He was young, devilishly handsome and just had a sex appeal quality to him that could drive any girl insane with his perfect model like face, dressed in leather and dark brown hair.

Annabeth smiled, feeling slightly flushed at the thought of a guy approaching her and asking her to dance but the young side of her couldn't resist the opportunity. Its not like Percy cared. He was too busy brooding and hating her and unsure if he wanted her as something more in his life than just a live in ex which is the only way she could describe it.

The young man offered her his hand and she took it, and the two started dancing together, just simple movements. Her hands were on his shoulders and his were settled on her hips as they rocked to the music, the occasional twirl and dip throughout their dance to the slow paced song that was playing.

And then it changed, the gentleman had a much less gentlemanly side to him, pressing his chest against Annabeth's back, shamelessly grinding his hips into hers, Annabeth not being a stick in the mud, followed his rocking hips in perfect synch as his hands trailed up and down her sides. In that moment, Annabeth felt free of all her troubles, she felt as if she didn't have anything to worry about but as she moved to the music, she couldn't help but glance across the floor, her eyes instantly landing on Percy who was watching her with this intense, hungry and predatory gaze that looked almost possessive.

He looked stark raving mad and it made Annabeth freeze.

She needed to go and calm down, she just wanted to have an escape so she excised herself and headed over to where the bathrooms were. She just remained in the hallway that lead to the bathroom, feeling a lot cooler in this empty passage where she could attempt to gain her bearings. She didn't know why the look Percy gave her affected her so much, she felt like he was about to march over and eat her alive.

"What the hell were you doing Annabeth?!" A familiar voice growled, causing Annabeth to look up and see a down right steaming Percy Jackson marching his way towards her. His body language was tense, his muscles practically ripped like they had expanded cause his shirt looked considerably tighter than she remembered. He still had that same possessive look in his eyes when the rest of his face told her that he was angry as he now towered over her.

"I don't understand what you mean, Percy?" she said in a regular voice after she gulped and gained a hold of her bearings in that moment.

Percy let out a dry chuckle before he spat out, "Really, so you willingly let that douche grind on you like a dog in heat." His voice was deep and demanding an answer which made Annabeth's heart start to race and her knees go slightly week. One thing that she always loved was seeing Percy angry, it was a major turn on because Pissed off Percy was a hot kind of Percy that she rarely saw.

She shook it off and glared at him, "I was just having some fun. It's not like you wanted anything to do with me since you blew me off like a one night stand or something." She answered back, pushing off the wall and standing tall as she glared right back at him. "You were enjoying your pissy party and I wasn't going to let that ruin my night."

"That doesn't mean you can go and dance with another man. You're mine." He said in a possessive tone. Annabeth couldn't decide if she liked the sound of him claiming her as his but she wasn't his. He hadn't shown any signs of wanting to be with her again. He hadn't put a label on them. He hadn't even acknowledged if they were going to ever go out on a date or not. It was a sad reality that she wanted to happen but that's the truth. She wasn't his.

"I am not yours, Percy. You haven't once acknowledged me as anything more than a friend. If I was yours, you would have had the balls to tell me if you wanted a relationship with me or not." She spat back, anger coursing through her veins as she spoke. "I've been patient with you Percy but I don't know whether or not I'm going to wait around for you to want me forever. If you don't want me again, tell me know because then I can move on with my life instead of wasting my time waiting for someone who doesn't want me back."

She made a move to walk around him but her back met the wall with a thump with Percy's arms trapping her against the wall as he looked down at her with a deep level of anger and this look of want and desire and hunger, like he was going to devour her like an animal. He was breathing heavily, his eyes never leaving her face, his body suffocating close but Annabeth didn't care because she was frozen in surprise at Percy's suddenness.

Before Annabeth could blink, Percy's lips descending on hers with a fiery passion, and a bruising force that made Annabeth groan from the suddenness but the feel of his lips on hers felt like heaven and hell all at once. It was like an addiction that she couldn't rid herself of, but she reveled in the feel and kissed him back with the same pent up frustration and hunger he was kissing her with.

He was kissing her with everything in him, like his life depended on it. It was feverish and undeniably hot and it made her feel like he was devouring her as his hands threaded themselves in her hair and pulled on her locks causing her to groan at the feeling of him tugging her on her hair in an attempt to try and get her closer. Percy separated their lips for a moment, panting heavily before saying in a breathy tone, "What are you doing to me?" he groaned before he kissed her again, his hands moving down her sides, causing a moan to leave her lips as he hitched up one of her legs and wrapped it around his waist and pressed his body right into hers, pinning her to the wall.

She couldn't comprehend what was happening in this moment, all she could think about was his lips on hers and how addictive they were. It had been so long since she felt his lips on hers, tasted the saltiness of his skin mixed with beer and spearmint chewing gum. She could barely remember the last time that she was allowed to perform the act of threading her fingers into his black locks that were silky and felt like satin under her fingers.

It was heated and hot in the room even though the hallway was colder than a freezer. She was unable to come up with a single thought, the feel of his body and lips pressed against hers overwhelmed every single one of her senses. She needed to come to her senses and find out why Percy was performing an act she had dreamed of for such a long time but because it was happening, it was hard to want to stop.

Percy reluctantly tore his lips from Annabeth when they both gasped for breath, Percy leaning his forehead against hers as they looked into each others eyes. The possessiveness in Percy's eyes was still there but it held tenderness and dare Annabeth thought it, love. "Do you understand now?" He said in a deep husky breath, causing Annabeth's heart to race at how much the sound of his voice appealed to her, "You are mine. No one else's. Got it."

Annabeth nodded, trying to catch her breath as she took in the appealing appearance of Percy's swollen lips and messed up hair that she had threaded her fingers through when her senses were just overwhelmed by him. "What does this make us then?" She asked timidly, unsure of where they were going to go from here in this moment.

Percy didn't hesitate with his answer, "I can't take not being able to kiss you. I lost my shit when I saw that guy approach you and I nearly walked over there and punched him because no one touches what's mine. I want you Annabeth. I want what we had. I feel like an idiot because it took seeing another guy touching you to make me realize that the only person I want doing that with you is me."

Annabeth's heart was singing sky fucking high at the words as Percy spoke. Even with the possessive dangerous look in his eyes, he reached up and cupped her cheek with such a contrasting tenderness it made her fall harder for him even more than she already had. "You have always been a Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said with a smile, causing Percy to grin at her.

"I know but I've always been yours, even if I tried to deny it." He said in an honest tone, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb as he looked down at her. "I want us to give us a second chance. I'm going to take you out and im going to be a hesitant pain in the ass in the beginning but I still see a future with you, Annabeth."

Annabeth felt like crying as she leaned up and brushed her swollen lips against his, smiling against his lips. "Sounds like the perfect plan to me."

"It's means we're not going to be able to do this for a bit." Percy whispered against her lips as he kissed her tenderly right back.

"I know, that's why I'm enjoying it whilst we can before the others find out." Annabeth whispered as she pulled away and smiled up at him. "You have no idea how addictive your lips are do you?"

"you don't know how addictive you are." Percy said as he ran his hand gently up and down the side of her jean covered thigh, causing her breath to hitch as he nudged his nose against hers. "When you walked out, I wanted to lock you in the apartment and keep you all to myself. I didn't want to share you because you looked so breathtaking and then I was an idiot with Octavian because the prick has been in my head for a long time and I just didn't want to get hurt but I can't keep myself away from you anymore, Annabeth."

"If we go home now, will you tell me why you and Octavian want to kill each other?" She asked softly, massaging his scalp softly, to sooth him at the mention of Rachel's fiancé's name.

"Yes, I will tell you everything because before we go anywhere with our relationship, we need to air out every skeleton in our closets." Percy whispered as he closed his eyes, nudging his nose against Annabeth's cheek. "I don't want anything coming up and surprising either of us."

"Neither do i." She agreed in a soft tone as Percy placed her foot down but kept his hands on her hips, pulling away and putting a little distance between them but not too much. "Let's go. I'll text the others later cause I don't want them to insinuate anything about my appearance if you leave to fetch the car whilst I go tell them we're leaving."

"Same goes for me." Percy said as he took her hand in his. "Come on, let's go have the talk we've needed to have for a long time."

Annabeth nodded, squeezing his hand in hers as she took in a deep breath and prepared herself for the hard hitting questions that were to come because now she could finally get all the guilt off her chest, confessing the truth to Percy would bring them a fresh new start that they both needed. She prepared herself for the conversation as they walked through the crowd and slowly made their journey back to the apartment, both nervous about the talk and both relieved to have it happen.

Time would tell where they would go, but after this talk, maybe things would be better but they had to talk first and that is what they were going to do.

* * *

 _Well that was long and certainly a mission to write in just one week but i pulled it off, even with my hectic schedule so gotta give me credit. i hope you enjoyed the chapter because i put a lot of time into it, and its the longest one by far so let me know what you think, and dont forget to try and guess what song was used to describe Percy's character. the clues are there. Good luck everyone, see you when inspiration hits again. Love you all, review, review, review. See you all again when i see you._


	13. What I've Done

_Hey everyone, I'm back with the next chapter. I know I took my time with it but life's been pretty hectic and at the moment I'm sick but I managed to get this done so props to me. Hope you all enjoy it. I am sorry it took so long but I hope you enjoy it. Its inspired by What I've Done by Linkin Park._

* * *

It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

The drive back to the apartment was a quiet one.

Annabeth couldn't help but feel nervous, this was the first time the two of them would speak about the past, about the skeletons and demons of their relationship before they parted the way they did.

She knew it would eventually come; she'd been waiting for this for a long time. She'd been waiting to speak her piece, the piece that should have been spoke years ago. That night she should have stayed, they would have talked, she could have told him the truths of her past, told him everything about Luke and her messed up reasoning's for her infidelity.

There was no excuse for doing that but they needed to air the dirty laundry of the past in order to fix them. This is the only way they could move forward, they need to talk about the past in order to move on with their future, if they still had one after but all she could do was hope that after this, they could really start afresh and maybe have the love and relationship they once shared.

It was an agonizing walk up the stairs to their floor, the tension could well and truly be cut through effortlessly with a blunt knife. Annabeth could feel her nerves racing to severe extremes but somehow, she remained calm and collected as Percy unlocked the door of their apartment and allowed her to enter first, being the gentleman he was raised to be, before following her in.

"Do you need something to drink?" Annabeth asked softly, trying to ease the tension so that this talk or confession would go as smoothly as possible.

"Just a beer." Percy answered politely as Annabeth handed one to him before pulling out a wine glass and pouring herself a glass of white wine before they went and occupied the lounge, both unsure of how to begin anything.

"Well since I'm the lady, I guess I should go first," She said, trying to lighten the mood with a little odd humor but Percy just seemed tense so she just breathed in and asked, "Where do you want me to begin?"

Percy had a thoughtful expression on his face, the gears of his brain turning before he spoke up, "The beginning. When, where and how you two met?" Annabeth knew that the thought of Luke's name made him hurt, there was no fooling her because she knew Percy and even thinking of the name of the man she cheated on him with hurt him, wounded him badly.

She sighed and closed her eyes as she spoke calmly, recalling the events, "It was the night we had that big fight and I walked out to cool off." That had been the most brutal argument they had had in their entire relationship, they both said some hurtful things and they had never really recovered from that fight. "I ended up in this bar, and he approached me, laid a stupid corny line on me and offered to buy me a drink. I let him but told him that I wasn't interested."

She shook her head, thinking back to that night, the countless advances he'd made that she kept turning down but she didn't turn down the possibility of confessing to a complete stranger.

"He didn't get the hint at first but he could see I was upset and I guess I confided in a stranger about my feelings and it was nice to talk to someone and not have a full blown fight." Annabeth said softly as she rubbed her shoulder, focusing on what she should have told him years ago, "We went our separate ways and I never thought I would see him again but I had a consultation at the firm and he showed up with his father, Hermes Castellan, a regular client."

"What happened then?" Percy asked, finally speaking up, his voice void of emotion.

"After the awkward meeting, he approached me and he was sweet and genuine and asked if I'd meet him for coffee and I did." Annabeth said, her voice filled heavily with guilt. "After that, he'd invite me out to lunch and drinks and I'd go, just enjoying the company since neither of us were really on speaking terms with each other and one night he kissed me and my immediate reaction was to push him away and I told him that I was with someone."

She recalled the sad, kicked puppy look on his face when she said that she was with someone. "What did he say."

"He didn't care and that he wanted a chance and I told him that I couldn't see him anymore and true to my word, I didn't, not until the day we had the falling out about you caring more about your job because we'd started speaking and planned our anniversary date," She froze, remembering the hours she waited, hoped and prayed for him to come when he never did, "but when you didn't show and didn't get home until two and we fought like gladiators with our words and you walked out, then I got weak, called him and sought comfort in him."

She couldn't bring herself to look up at Percy, she knew she was subconsciously blaming him for her infidelity but it wasn't his fault, it was her own.

"I shouldn't have. I should have fought for us but I was hurt and weak and ran into his arms and the more we distanced ourselves, the more I fell into his arms." Annabeth confessed with a heavy heart, burdened with guilt and anguish from her past transgressions. "Eventually, he kissed me again but this time, I didn't push away, I let him."

She could visibly see Percy tense, his eyes definitely with sadness and betrayal which he was honestly allowed to feel.

"It felt so wrong but so right. I didn't know if it was because I was using him as a human guinea pig to get the intimacy we had lost or if it was because I was developing feeling for him but I just kept him around." Annabeth closed her eyes, knowing in her heart that it was a mistake, that it shouldn't have happened but the past is the past and they needed to focus on the future and this is how they were going to get there.

"Did he know that about you and I?" Percy asked, his voice quiet and hesitant, wavering with thick emotions.

"Yes, from the beginning he knew but he spouted out speeches about how he felt something incredible towards me and wanted to be with me and how he didn't care about if I was taken." Annabeth whispered in a sad regretful tone, if a man was willing to have someone who was already taken, allow themselves to be the other man in the picture, then that was messed up no matter how deep their feelings ran. "He told me he loved me a week before you found out, he begged and pleaded with me to love him back but I couldn't."

"What happened that day I found out because if I recall, you said you didn't know how you felt about him?" Percy asked, for the first time looking up and meeting Annabeth's sad gaze as he leaned his elbows on his knees, watching her closely.

"He'd shown up before lunch, right after you'd called and said that you'd been working late and I was pissed since it was Christmas and it would have been the first one without you and I was hurt," Annabeth said, wiping any signs of pitiful guilt filled tears away to compose herself so she could finish her tale, "He offered to take me to lunch and I went with him but when we got to the office, I'd realized that I had misplaced the bead necklace you gave me, the one where you always gave me a new bead each year and I panicked, thinking how important it was and how I couldn't lose it because I got it from you."

Percy seemed slightly surprised, having completely forgotten about that bead necklace that he'd given her over a decade ago, in fact, almost two decades ago. It was honestly a silly little trinket gift but she took it so seriously that every year, he had another bead made with a new image to symbolize another year being added to their relationship. "Why did you care so much about it? It was just a silly little thing."

Annabeth chuckled, a smile gracing her face, confusing Percy, "Its because you gave it to me that it was so important. It was one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me and losing it, made me realize how much of my life I would've been throwing away if I chose to be with Luke like he'd asked me to be that day." Annabeth whispered, the smile never leaving her face, "Misplacing it made me realize just how big a part you held in my heart. It made me realize how unfair and stupid I was being and how wrong it was."

"But you went and saw him for drinks that night. Explain that to me?"

"I went there to tell him that no matter how much you and I fought, no matter what hurtful things we said to each other, I would always love you." Annabeth said with a heavy sigh, "He begged and pleaded me to reconsider, I said I had to decide what I truly wanted but I never made a promise to be with him and I planned to tell you everything that night but when I got home I got scared, knowing you'd be there because you said what time you'd be home, and when I wanted to tell you everything, you told me you already knew."

"you have no idea how much it hurt for someone in your work place tell me, your boyfriend of years that you went out with your boyfriend." Percy said in an angry, yet sad filled voice, "For a moment, I thought you had failed to tell anyone about me but was later informed that it was a newbie who told me unknowingly that my girlfriend was cheating on me and that killed me."

"I know. I was a coward, pulling two people along because I was too stupid and afraid to fight for what I really wanted." Annabeth rubbed her hands over her face, "it's no excuse. I was going to tell you everything but I let fear rule me. I couldn't handle you leaving me so I left because I was wrecked and it was my own fault I just wanted solace and safety, I just wanted you but I at the time I had lost you and I couldn't handle it."

"I came back. I wanted to fight, but you'd gone, left me behind. I didn't know what to think. Had you chosen him over me? Had you given up on us and gone to him? Should I stay or should I look for you and try fight for you?" Percy spoke in a regretful tone, clearly hurt by Annabeth's actions that night, "I was prepared to find you and fight for you but I felt so lost and alone but the one thing I did was track Luke down and I broke his nose because I was so angry."

"I couldn't blame you for that. I should have stayed but as I boarded the plan, he texted me and said he was done and I just was pathetically alone and just ran cause I didn't know what else to do." She wiped her eyes as the tears gathered, "What I've done, what I've been doing, it was unfair to you and I can only imagine what my presence here was doing to you and for that, I'm sorry Percy. I truly am and I will never truly be able to forgive myself for what I've done, which is justice in its own form."

Percy was silent, his brain turning and thinking hard, his eyes closed as he took in a deep shaky breath but before he could speak, Annabeth spoke up.

"I know it will take a lot for you to trust me after that and I am okay with it. If you want to be just be friends after this, I'm okay with it, as long as I have you in some shape or form in my life." Annabeth was close to tears, emotions flaring high within herself, the thought and fear of experiencing the loneliness of not having him in her life overwhelming her as she spoke, "I cant go without you in my life again."

"me neither, which is why I am worried about what you may think of me when I tell you the reason why Octavian hates me." Percy said, looking away from Annabeth, not allowing her to speak, he continued, "Its because of Rachel."

Annabeth frowned, confusion evident within her after he spoke those words, "What do you mean because of Rachel?" She was more curious than angry, they needed to speak and she was going to listen openly to Percy speak without judging because he had given her the same courtesy.

"After you left, I was alone for so long and it was last year that I met Rachel." Percy began, "We grew pretty close as friends, we had a lot in common, she was a breath of fresh air and one night, she came here upset and we started drinking and then I kissed her by accident and she didn't push me away."

Annabeth wanted to feel angry that Rachel hadn't told her the entire truth about her and Percy but she wasn't angry, she understood. It was Percy's story to tell, not hers. "Did anything else happen that night."

"It wasn't innocent kissing, I was attracted to her but the minute she tried to take my shirt off, I stopped because it didn't feel right, no matter how much I enjoyed the intimacy of the kiss and the closeness I felt, it made me think of you, which is why I couldn't do it." Percy said with a heavy sigh, "You were a forever constant on my mind, I couldn't do anything without missing or thinking about you. I couldn't move on from you, no matter how hard I tried to."

"I take it she told Octavian what happened."

"Not immediately, not until he caught us. It wasn't the last time we kissed, I handled the kissing just fine but I could never go further. It was platonic for me and her, we just did to when we needed comfort." Percy breathed out, running his fingers nervously through his hair as he spoke, "She'd had an argument and came to find me, he'd followed her because he obviously realized how much of a douche was being and he walked into my work and found her straddling me, kissing me in my office."

Annabeth's eyes were wide, she could only imagine how intense the moment was.

"Of course I was completely blindsided to the fact that he was actually her fiancé and not just a boyfriend and he sucker punched me but he had every right too." Percy looked up, his eyes seemingly hurt, "Rachel distanced herself from me physically but occasionally, she'd come and see me and she mostly did it because she wanted to piss him off."

"What made you hate him so much?"

"He came to the apartment to get her and he turned round and said to me that you were right in cheating on me with his half brother and I just lost it and hit him." Percy confessed, Annabeth's eyes going wide, "He blatantly congratulated the fact that his half brother had 'done' you, as in sleeping with you and I just lost it. We fought so badly the cops were involved."

"Wow... I never knew..."

"It was my place to tell you this. We barely tolerate each other because he's an insecure little bitch because Rachel was attracted to me and still holds a slightly flirtatious attitude towards me and also because I kicked his scrawny ass but that's not the point." Percy said, realizing he was getting off topic, "I barely tolerate him because he likes to egg me about Luke and I hold back for Rachel's sake because whether he likes it or not, she's my friend and I'm hers."

"Why did you get so angry that you resorted to violence?"

"Because I was hurt and confused. I knew you and I knew that you wanted to wait until after you got married to take that step but in that moment I was jealous and thought that maybe just maybe he got to be with you in a way that I didn't and I'd never experience that kind of thing with you." Percy shook his head at himself, "It was stupid but I loved you and I wanted to be your one and only but after I'd calmed down, I knew he was lying because I knew you."

Annabeth stood up and bravely walked over to where Percy was seated and sat herself on the table before Percy and took his hands in hers before she spoke, "I know its too early to talk about that but you were the only Percy I ever wanted to be that way with. I wouldn't have ever been able to give that part of myself away because you were the only one for me."

"I felt that way too." Percy confessed as he rubbed his thumb against the back of my hand, "I still feel that way."

"I do too and I know it will take us a long time to get there," Annabeth said as she released his hand and pulled out the chain that held the ring and un-clipped it. She held it in hers hands as she spoke, "but I think the first step we can take is making a promise to one another and my promise to you is to be honest, faithful, true and to love you in every way I can and I do it," She nervously bit her lip as she removed the ring and slotted it hopefully on her finger, "by wearing this as a promise to you. When the time is right, we will have an engagement, and a proposal and a wedding but for now, this is my promise to love you forever and always."

Percy looked a little misty eyed as he took her hand in his and examined the ring on her finger, a sad smile appearing on his face as chuckled, "I always knew it would look good on your finger." He said in an admiring tone as he raised her hand to his lips and kissed the gem, "I'm willing to do this as long as you are."

"I want you Percy, only you." Annabeth whispered as she turned her hand and cupped his cheek tenderly in her hand, "No matter how long it takes for us to get to how we were before the fighting, I want us."

"Then I'm going to take you out next week, on a date, a real date and we are going to start afresh and get back to how we once were, okay?" Percy asked with a smile Annabeth couldn't help but return it with a nod.

"okay." She whispered as she pulled him into a hug and smiled, things were really starting to look up. The skeletons of the past had been aired and now everything was out in the open and everything was going to be okay.

It was a new start for them and soon, things would be back to the way they once were and should have always been but for now, she had Percy and that is was truly mattered to her.

* * *

 _Well that was an interesting one to write, sorry its short but i kind of wrote this in one day cause i saw how long it had been since i updated and i am sorry for taking so long. I hope you enjoyed it and i will see you again soon, hopefully with the next chapter.  
_


	14. Our True Love

_Hey everyone, I'm back with the next chapter. This one is inspired by a song I have heard around a lot but never to the end and finally I downloaded it and it fits the chapter in terms of where our two are seated in terms of plot standing. So this is inspired by True Love by Dove Cameron. Hope you like it._

* * *

It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

Annabeth hadn't felt this nervous before, well not for a long time to say the very least.

She felt like she was in high school again, preparing for her first date with Percy. She was nervous wreck and couldn't decide what to wear, cliché as it may seem. She had never go out on a date, let alone a first day. She had been seventeen and she still hadn't gotten her first kiss yet, and it wasn't until there was a slumber party at Percy's house and they were playing spin the bottle and it landed between her and Percy.

At that point, they had probably been going out for about a month and a half, close to almost two months before he leaned over, cupped her cheek and confidently pressed his lips against. Being real in-depth with creative writing and freedom of expression with art at that point of her life at that age, it felt like fireworks exploded in the background. They had actually ended shortly after that when the bottle landed between her and another dude and Percy threatened to touch him if he kissed her.

In the same night she received her first kiss, she was fully embraced in a make out session on his bed when he dragged her up there after giving everyone evil glares and proceeded to make sure that they all knew Annabeth was his girlfriend; he made it official and made sure she knew.

The memory of the very beginning of their relationship made Annabeth smile as she thought about how young and innocently in love they were. Like all teenage couples, they had fights, jealous notes and they had broken up once over something as stupid as Annabeth not saying I love you and they left themselves miserable for the entire of the summer and the first half of the school term before they were locked in a closet and forced to resolve their issues where Annabeth admitted that she was terrified because she'd never felt like she did before.

Being in love is a scary thing if you've never been in love with someone before and no-one said love was easy. Annabeth had felt empty for nearly five years since the fallout but she was to blame, not Percy. She ran like a coward instead of staying and fighting for her relationship, a recurring and repetitive mental note. She would never allow herself to forget because she caused her own pain as well as Percy.

But they had agreed to put those demons, the mistakes and transgressions made in the past behind them. They were starting afresh and Annabeth couldn't be more thankful. She wanted to fix things between them, she wanted to make them work like she could have done but fate had given her and Percy and a second chance and maybe this time round things would be better.

She smiled down at her hand with the glistening ring that adorned her ring finger. It was the first time she had worn the ring on her finger and not on the chain around her neck. She was hopeful for the future and in her mind she'd made a promise that if she could get it back, she'd never let it go this time. She got the chance to do things over and she was going to do it right this time because what she and Percy had could only be defined as true love in her mind.

She knew she had it and that it was hard to find and she was so thankful that she had a chance to get it back this time and she wasn't going to let it go this time. No relationship was perfect, heck there was no such thing as perfection but in Annabeth's mind, Percy was perfect in every way. Faults and all, he was perfect in her eyes and she was thankful that she could call him her own again.

There was a knock on her door, bringing her out of her musings, a familiar voice resonating through the wooden door causing her heart to quicken it's pace, "Annabeth, you ready?"

"Just bout Percy." Annabeth answered back before turning back and staring at her reflection in the mirror. She nervously bit her lip as she gave her appearance a once over. She was dressed simply. A pair of denim jeans, brand new and never worn, a pair of converses that Percy had gotten her years ago and a black tank top. Over the top she had a plaid blue and black toned buttoned up shirt that was left open, the sleeves rolled up to her elbow. Her hair was down, her natural princess curls seeming extra curly today, draping off her head like a water of liquid gold that was the colour of a field of weight on display in the sunlight.

Around her neck she was a necklace that had a heard shaped tanzanite that wasn't framed by any gold or silver. It was just the gem straight up, attached to the chain by a silver closed hook through the epicentre of the top part of the heart. The gem was a rick blue that had hue of purple, almost giving it a dark violet colour. It was one of her favourite necklaces and she'd had it for years.

Taking a deep breath she turned round and walked over to the door and opened it, smiling brightly when she saw Percy standing there, looking almost as nervous as she felt. He stood there dressed in a pair of jeans and a plain blue shirt that hugged his broad shoulders, chest and narrow waist in all the right places. He also had a pair of converse and Annabeth couldn't help but let out a little chuck because they were grown adults dressed like teenagers going out to the movies... which they were.

Cliché but the both of them could care less because they didn't need to be extravagant. Sure this was an important event, the first step in the right direction, the first to getting things back to how they were but they didn't do extravagant. Besides, Annabeth knew Percy was planning something else apart from the movie date. Percy smiled at her, the moment made them both think of the time Percy came to pick her up for their first date when they were kids.

"You look beautiful Annabeth." Percy said, his voice sounding slightly breathless as there was a light dusting of blush appearing on Percy's cheeks.

Annabeth could feel her own cheeks heating up as she tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, "I'm not dressed in anything extravagant." She said in a mere shy tone which made Percy crack a smile.

"Annabeth, I've told you a million times and I will tell it to you again. whether you were dressed in the most extravagant gown on the planet and dolled up to look like a movie star, or dressed in a potato sack, you will always look beautiful to me." The confidence in Percy's tone, the assurance he gave to ease her nerves made her heart clench, oh how much she loved hearing him say things like that.

She smiled and leaned forward and pressed a kiss against his cheek, her confidence growing more as she pulled away, "Thank you."

"Your welcome." Percy replied as he offered her his hand, "Ready to go catch the movie?"

Annabeth nodded as she interlaced their fingers and allowed him to lead her to the door and to the movie.

* * *

Hours later...

Annabeth had enjoyed the movie very much. They'd gone to see a film called August Rush and admittedly, both she and Percy got a little chocked up watching it. They had walked to the theatre, it was only a couple of blocks away from the building they lived in and instead of going straight home, Percy encouraged them to take a walk through the park near movie house.

The sun was starting to set as the two of them strolled hand and hand through the park. There were still plenty of families hanging around, playing with dog and children on the vast open green. Being totally cliché, as if replaying their first date, Percy got them ice cream from this cute little shop just across the road. Percy couldn't resist getting bubblegum since it was blue whilst Annabeth had opted for cookie dough.

Walking through the park, Annabeth couldn't help but watch the families. They were all so happy and carefree. Couples happy and unafraid to show their affection and love for one another whilst others opted to play with their children. Loud games of tag and chase were being played as they walked down the path, their fingers still interlaced, never separating.

Annabeth hadn't always wanted to have kids. To be honest, she'd never thought she would meet someone as young as she did, let alone fall in love with. She always thought she'd have a successful career with a dog and no one else in her life but then she met Percy and everything had changed. The truth was that Annabeth wasn't as young as she once was.

She was getting older and so was her body but she found herself wanting what all these families have. She wanted children and every time she glanced over at Percy who was not so discreetly watching the families like her, she knew he wanted the same thing. They had a long way to go but she hoped that she would still be able to have the family that both she and Percy had dreamed of.

"You ever think about having one?" She asked suddenly, wondering why she had gone and done that.

Percy didn't hesitate like she thought he would, "All the time. Its something I've always wanted... with you." Percy said as he took another lick of his ice cream cone before turning his head and looked at her with a soft smile, "I still want that Annabeth. I still want that house we planned to build together. I still want that family that we'd always talked about having."

That made Annabeth smile, "I still want that too."

"Good. I know we aren't as young as we once were but I want that and I have still always wanted that." Percy said as they stopped and he turned his body to fully face her, tossing away the remains of his cone as Annabeth did the same before Percy took her hands in his. "You hurt me a lot Annabeth and that's no secret. Yes it made me question my feelings but I've always known that they haven't gone away or faded whatsoever. I still love you Annabeth. Always have and always will."

Annabeth could feel tears forming in her eyes as she smiled so hard, relief flooding throughout her body, hope being affirmed in her. Percy loved her. He still did.

"I know we still have a lot to work on Annabeth in terms of us but at I do know is I want that with you." He glanced at a couple seated on the grace, a woman with black hair holding a baby wrapped up in a blanket in her arms and a man with blond hair seated next to her with his arm around her shoulders, "I have been thinking about it for some time now and the reason I wanted to go for a walk is because there is something I wanted to show you."

Annabeth allowed Percy to turn her round and her eyes widened when she saw what she saw. On the opposite side of the park there was a street of houses but this one house in particular stood out. A two story house, identical to the dream house she had designed for the two of them, stood there in all it's glory, exactly how she envisioned it. Her hands covered her mouth, tears falling freely from her eyes as happiness flowed through her like a river.

"I found the design and decided that I wanted to build our dream even if you weren't here." He said as he rested his hands on her shoulders as he spoke, "It took a long time to get it done but it was actually completed the day you left the message that you were in New York. I took it as a sign, which is why I came that day."

Annabeth turned round and looked up at Percy with tear filled eyes and yet their was the brightest smile on her face as Percy cupped her face in his hands, wiping away the tears with his thumbs. Annabeth's hands rested on his wrist, her thumbs rubbing against his skin as he smiled down at her, his eyes swirling greet pools of undiluted happiness and love.

"Let's take that next step towards us." Percy said softly as he leaned his forehead against hers, "Move into our house with me, Annabeth?" He asked softly.

Annabeth's smile just grew as Percy nudged noses with her as she spoke, "Do you always ask someone to move in with you on the first date?" She teased which made Percy smile as little more as he held their gazes.

"Only when I'm truly inlove with someone." Percy said back as Annabeth leaned in closer and brushed their lips together before pulling back to see his face and he looked like he had won a million dollars. "I take it that's a yes."

"Its a hell yes." Annabeth said with a bright smile as Percy dropped his one hand to her hip, drawing them closer together whilst Annabeth's hand rested against his chest and Percy leaned in and pressed his lips firmly against hers.

Annabeth felt over the moon. Things were looking so much brighter and she could only remain hopeful for the future.

* * *

 _Well guys, sorry for the wait. I hope the chapter was worth it. Thanks for the ongoing support. Love you all._


	15. True Colours

_Well would you look here... I haven't died... this daughter of Hades has returned after not being alive for almost five months... I sincerely apologize about that... but life has a way of being bitter and nasty and exams and loss of everything have a way of making a writer curse the heavens and hell._

 _But yeah, I guess you can say I am back now. But I have a whole lot of catching up to do. I love everything for all of my stories and I've been trying to restart all my research again and writing. I have also started my hectic study schedule for my subjects at school again so I can't promise weekly or monthly post but I will try my best to at least post something for all my stories once a month._

 _But I do apologize about the wait. I know I'm a terrible writer but I will try my best to catch up. This story, I honestly don't know how much I will write for it but I say it might have ten, maybe fifteen more chapters from what my original planning was so we will see but I hope you like it cause things are getting interesting._

* * *

It Had Begun Again With A Simple Hello

It had been a week since the date and Annabeth and Percy had been doing well. Over the last few days they had been slowly packing some of their things up and moving them into their house. Annabeth was truly overwhelmed when she saw the house and when Percy showed her the interior of the beautiful two story house, she almost burst into tears because the floors, and walls were exactly how she pictured them. A modern light grey/silver tone with warm wooden floors in the other rooms apart from the kitchen and bathrooms.

The house was perfect but empty and they had slowly been bringing things in with the help of friends but they were going to start getting their furniture moved this weekend as they had packed most of the things. Rachel being an interior designer had helped her decide which rooms were which and had put together design plans with the couple, taking in both their opinions and relaying ideas to them until they had finally settled on things they wanted.

As it turns out, Rachel had actually started helping do up the kitchen, having equipped it all the necessities and had ordered furniture to match the design and style Annabeth was looking for. The house had a large number of rooms that included; a master bedroom, an office for Annabeth, two guest bedrooms, A dining room with an open wall looking into the kitchen and the lounge, and two spare rooms and the minute she heard spare rooms, Annabeth envisioned one day that those rooms would be for the kids she and Percy would hopefully have one day. The was also a master bathroom, a conjoining bathroom for the two guest rooms and a bathroom down stairs.

Rachel had at first not gotten on the best of terms with Thalia but they eventually learned to tolerate one another and helped each other out. They hoped to have moved in by the end of next week as the new furniture would be moved in next week, including the new king sized bed for the master bedroom but they didn't know what they were going to do with the spare rooms for now which was an ongoing debate.

But it was one they would debate together and Annabeth couldn't let herself think about that now as it was almost time for the very important consultation she was going to be having today. Rachel's father and his business partner, Apollo were coming in to discuss with Annabeth and Rachel about the fundamentals and so they could discuss some of the design specifics before she put her pencil to the paper and started designing the blueprints for the building. She was in her office when she got an message from Percy.

* * *

 _From: 3 Seaweed Brain 3_

 **Hey Wise Girl, I just wanted to let you know that I have finished early and have some free time. I'm going to start packing the kitchen supplies and was wondering what you wanted for dinner.**

* * *

She couldn't help but smile as she typed that she so desperately just wanted grease so that would be a bucket of chicken and crispy chips. She hadn't eaten a lot of take away but she knew that she would want something like take away after this long consultation she was going to be having. Apollo was a decent fellow, polite and courteous but Mr. Dare was rude, crude, and full of attitude. He had straight up business and money on his mind and she hoped that she would be able to handle him because the last time they consulted, they had a pretty large argument concerning the internal design of the reception. She stuck to the brief but highlighted what Apollo wanted and Mr. Dare wanted her to re-do all the designs.

Minerva had been in there and bit back as well and backed her employee one hundred percent and when Apollo had said it was what he wanted and wanted no alterations did the man back off. Annabeth was honestly not looking forward to this meeting, thankful that Rachel would be with her. She was finishing preparing the last details of her presentation when a familiar figure burst through her door at speed.

Annabeth nearly had heart failure when the door burst open and Rachel rushed in and she looked out of breath. "Jeez Rachel, what's got you so out of breath."

"I had to rush to beat my father here." Rachel said between heavy breaths. She was holding a pair of black heels in her hands, her hair no messy than normal. "I had to warn you because this meeting is going to be really awkward and weird and uncomfortable and I had to apologize beforehand because I didn't find out until ten minutes ago when we were leaving."

Annabeth could see how panicked Rachel was and she honestly had no idea what had the girl so panicked and overwhelmed. "What's going on?"

"Annabeth, my father is bringing Octavian and Luke with him and Apollo to the meeting." Annabeth's eyes widened at the last name that Rachel spoke. She slowly stood up out of her seat, her pulse quickening and her breaths becoming heavy.

That name.

That person.

Luke Castellan.

She hadn't thought about him in years. The man she cheated on her boyfriend with. The biggest mistake she had ever made in her life. "What do you mean by he is coming with your dad?"

"As it turns out, since Luke is going to be a part of the family since I am marrying his brother that he would get involved in family affairs and decided to bring him along to see what all this hustle and bustle is about." Rachel explains in a panic as she leaned heavily against the wall. "I needed to tell you before you went in there unprepared."

Annabeth ran her fingers through her hair, "I haven't seen him in years, god, what do I do?" She asked desperately.

Rachel ran her fingers through her hair, "Act natural I guess." She suggested even though she did believe that there was no chance in hell that Annabeth could act natural around the guy she cheated on her boyfriend with, especially when she dumped Luke.

"That shouldn't be too hard." Annabeth said with a sarcastic eye roll as she leaned her head on her desk and tried to mentally figure out how she was gonna do this...

She couldn't let her private life affect her work.

She had only just come back and actually settled in and started to figure things out again when this had to happen. She would have been better after a few years when she and Percy weren't still trying to figure everything out between them...

Where Annabeth was still trying to make up for her past mistakes, trying to work things through with Percy and this blockade had to come in her way...

But Annabeth found herself frowning.

 _Why did it matter?_

She had no feelings for Luke... she hadn't had them in years...

She started smiling as she let out a soft laugh, "Why am I panicking?" She asked with a head shake, "I have no feelings for him. I had every right to choose. Yes I am sorry for stringing him along in the past, but I don't have any feelings for him." She said with a soft smile that made Rachel smile. "I'll apologize to him in private since I owe him that, but he is the past. Percy is my present and future." She said with a smile.

Rachel smiled with pride, "I am so proud of you Annabeth." She said as she hugged her friend. To think that these two hated each other, and now they were friends.

"Thank you for being here with me." She said softly as her door opened and Minerva appeared in the doorway.

"Morning Ladies." She greeted with a smile.

"Morning Minerva." They greeted with a smile on their faces.

"Ladies, Mr. Dare has arrived. Shall we head to the board room?" She asked with a smile on her faced as she straightened her blazer.

Annabeth smiled and nodded. "Yes Minerva. Let me grab my files so we can be completely prepared." She said with a smile as Minerva nodded.

"I'll make sure to keep them all entertained." She said with a smile on her face as she looked at Rachel. "Come Miss. Dare. Your father is waiting for you and so is your fiancé and future brother in law." She said with a smile on her face.

Rachel smiled and nodded, "See you in there, Annabeth." She said with a soft smile on her face as she followed Minerva out.

"See you there, Dare." She said with a smile on her face.

Piper entered the room with a soft smile on her face with a bouquet of flowers in her hands, "Special delivery." She said on her face as she entered the room.

Rachel popped her head in and grinned. "Looks like lover boy is missing you." She said with a giggle as headed off to the board room.

Annabeth smiled as piper approached her with the bouquet of long stem red roses. " These are from your prince charming." She said with a smile on her face as she handed the flowers to Annabeth.

Annabeth beamed as she placed the flowers which had been put in a complimentary vase on her desk, "Thank you." She said as she looked in the flowers and found a small card and beamed as she opened it, _**"Hey wise girl. Miss you today. Thought I'd send something beautiful for the most beautiful girl in the world. See you tonight with delicious and greasy treats for dinner. XOXO Your Seaweed Brain."**_

Piper giggled and smiled at her, "You are one lucky woman." She said with a smile as she walked out the room, a smile on her face as Annabeth smiled at the card.

She pulled out her phone and messaged him quickly,

* * *

 _To: 3 Seaweed Brain 3_

 **Hey Kelp Head. Thank you for the roses, they are beautiful. You should have come up and said hello but I hope to see you as soon as this board meeting is finished. XOXOXO Your Wise Girl.**

* * *

She slipped her phone and grabbed her things and headed off for her meeting...

* * *

 _~ A while later... ~_

It was very uncomfortable to start with, especially with Octavian being present in the room.

He kept on staring at her, making underlined comments about Luke and Annabeth's history that really made Annabeth uncomfortable.

She was grateful that Rachel stepped in and told Octavian that she wanted to speak to him outside. She called him Tavy in front of everyone which really he wasn't pleased about but it got him outside...

It had given Annabeth enough time to process her thoughts and get some input between her and Mr. Dare before Octavian entered with a scowl and a hand covering his ear.

Annabeth remember Rachel telling her once that she threatened to pull Octavian's ear when she lectured him. Annabeth guessed that that is exactly what happened as he never said a word the rest of the meeting...

The only other person to remain silent was Luke...

His eyes just stayed locked on Annabeth the entire meeting but overall, the meeting was fine.

Everyone including Rachel had left the board room, leaving Annabeth to gather up everything but she froze when she heard a voice that she had not heard during the entire meeting.

"Annabeth..." Said the voice of Luke Castellan, making Annabeth look up and see Luke standing in front of her with a neutral expression his face.

"Luke... I... I thought you had left." She confessed softly as she looked at him with a soft expression.

"I couldnt leave... not until I spoke with you." He said softly to her as he tucked his hands in his pockets. "You left... and then I get sucker punched by Percy... and you never called."

Annabeth sighed, "I was ashamed of my actions, of hurting two wonderful people... and I didn't want to speak to you. I made that clear when you were leaving... there would never be anything between us Luke." She said softly to him.

"That's not true Annabeth." He said softly, "There was something between us, there always had been." He pressed as he stepped closer but Annabeth stepped back.

"What do you want Luke?" She asked as she stared at him.

"A chance... you're single and I know you feel something for me because I felt it and-"

"I'm not interested Luke." She interrupted as she looked at him, "I didn't come back for you... I came back for Percy." She said softly.

Luke chortled, "Him, he hurt you more than I ever did. I don't believe you want a chance with him."

"Well he and I are starting over. We're giving it another try. We have a house together... we're working out our issues Luke. There never would have been anything between us, even if he hadn't been in the picture in the past..." She said softly to him, "You're an amazing guy but nothing would have happened."

L;uke looked at her coldly, "Keep telling yourself that when he breaks your heart again. jsut wait until he leaves you for Rachel. I bet he never told you about her."

Annabeth chook her head with a chuckle of disbelief, "Your true colours are shining through, Luke." She said as she continued to pack her things, "Percy has told me everything and I have told him everything about what happened between you and I. I told you Luke, I came back for him and I am not going to make a mistake like I did with you ever again." She promised softly.

Luke looked at her coldly, "You think everything's going to be rainbows and butterflies." He said incredulously, "Things are not going to be as easy as breathing Annabeth. You ruined my life and I promise you, you will pay for it."

"Threats like that don't scare me because I'm not a coward like you." She said with a glare.

Luke marched towards her and stood directly in front of her, "Just you wait. You'll see that you don't ever cross me." He said with gritted teeth.

"I suggest you leave before I'm the one that punches you this time." She said in a threatening tone as she glared into his eyes.

Luke let out a growl as he turned on his heel and stormed out the room, leaving Annabeth to let out a sigh of relief. Thank god she had the strength to overcome that obstacle and to realise that she never did feel anything for Luke.

She was glad to put him behind her.

She wasn't going to let his words affect her. She was stronger than that and in the end, she was going to come out stronger than she ever had.

She smiled as she headed to her office was greeted with the greatest surprise of her life...

Percy was there with a bucket of chicken, some fries and his gorgeous self of course, "You requested and I have come, and I've got a surprise waiting at home for us." He said with a beaming smile on his face.

Annabeth giggled as she went up to him and placed a kiss on his cheek, "You are the best Percy Jackson." She said fondly.

"I tried to be the best I can be because you deserve it." He said in a soft and tender tone that made Annabeth beam at him.

"You're such a romantic." She said warmly as she hugged him, a happy smile on her face as he held her, "I'm glad to have a second chance with you. Thank you for giving me that chance" She confessed softly.

Percy smiled, "I see your true colours shinning through... and that's why I love you." He whispered as Annabeth looked at him with soft but wide eyes, "Don't be afraid to let them show okay." He whispered softly to her as love shined in his eyes.

"I won't." She promised as they stood there in their blissful moment, happiness etched on her features. Things were looking so much better, so much bright and she was excited to finally start seeing what life with Percy would be like.

She wanted forever with him.

She needed him in her life and she was gonna be damned if anyone like Octavian or Luke tried to mess this up for her.

"I love you Percy." She whispered to him, for the first time she was able to say it without fear of rejection as she felt Percy kiss the top of her head.

"I love you too, Annabeth. I love you too." He responded as he leaned down and kissed her softly.

Annabeth was grateful that she had a second chance and she was not going to waste it.

She'd make it up to him... she swore it on the Styx...

* * *

 _Well guys, there we are. Hope it didn't suck too badly. I love you and hopefully I will see you all again soon. Love you and thank you for your patience with me._


End file.
